Leaving Office

Wells: We probably would've done one more year, which would've been the whole transition, but for John Spencer's sudden death at Christmas time. I don't know if the network would've picked us up for year eight or not, but after that we all looked at each other and said, "Maybe it's time to stop."

Whitford: I got a phone call that John was in trouble and I went to hospital and the doctor told me John had died. I was there at his funeral and then a few weeks later I was acting those same scenes. It was very bizarre. We had a big meeting: we didn't want to exploit it at all but we thought that John would've wanted it incorporated.

Channing: That was horrible. He was a very close personal friend of mine and it was extremely hard to go through that in life and then dramatically. I really can't even speak about it because he became one of my closest friends and… I found it extremely difficult. I knew he'd been ill. It was something he kept extremely secret because he had an operation. We thought he was fine – he really made a full recovery – which was why it was so shocking.

"Oh God, I lost a brother. I absolutely adored him. The nuances between us and the affection we had for each other... We were serious guys but he had a wonderful sense of humour and we would joke all the time."

Sheen: Oh God, I lost a brother. I absolutely adored him. He and I were the oldest; we were also AA people and we had so much in common. The nuances between us and the affection we had for each other... We were serious guys but he had a wonderful sense of humour and we would joke all the time. One time, Allison Janney was doing an interview with a reporter and the reporter said, "Well, you know, it's surprising that The West Wing is such a success and there's no love story." And Allison said, "Well of course there is. Between Martin and John!" And she was absolutely right.

Moloney: Aaron said at his memorial that he was such a professional that he died on hiatus. He was so, so, so good and so committed and just never missed a beat.

Sheen: Up until his death, the Republican was going to win the election. Jimmy Smits would be defeated and that wonderful actor Alan Alda would win. But with John's death they said no and, against history, the Democrats would continue.

Wells: There was a long period from Christmas to the wrapping of the show that was very emotional because of John's death. The scripts were already written on the assumption that John was still going to be very much alive. So a number of things were rewritten and the actors, who had lost a close personal friend, then had to play the loss of the character.

Hill: Doing the episode with Leo's funeral was extremely difficult. Because when John had passed, even though it was an empty coffin, it wasn't an empty coffin. At that time, we knew that The West Wing had to be done. Because doing The West Wing without John Spencer just didn't seem right at all.

Sheen: There had been some very serious talk about extending the series and I was asked would I be interested. I said of course, that maybe I could be like a Jimmy Carter where the new President would send me into the Third World or who knows where. I would appear every now and then as a former President. I said, "Give me that and a chair at the University of Notre Dame and I'll be happy as Larry." But when John died, they folded the tent. It was over, and we thought, "No, we can never go back there."

The Long Goodbye

Lowe: I wanted to be with everybody during the goodbyes; I wanted Sam to be present and I was really glad I did. It was emotional and lovely and sad and the perfect way to end it.

Hill: The last dialogue scene that we did was the President giving me the Constitution ( see video below) – that red book, which I may or may not still have. I'm going to leave it at that. The final scene we actually shot, though, was Martin walking into the communications bullpen and everyone applauding. It was just so emotional. A lot of folks who had been involved in the show had come and were there on the set. You just took it in.

Malina: I think it was exponentially more shattering to the originals who had been there from first episode to last. I felt a little bit like a guest again in that last episode. Even though it was a very sad day for me and a painful goodbye, there was something very special in the closure for the people who had been there the whole way. I didn't feel like I had earned the full range of emotions that they were going through.

"Whenever they talk about the history of television, they will talk about The West Wing."

Smits: The last couple of episodes were bittersweet and strange. Every day I would stop in even if I wasn't working just to watch people's last scenes – a lot of people did that. The last day, people stayed the whole day. They were tearing down the Oval Office in one area of the soundstage while they were shooting C.J.'s last scene. It was very surreal.

Wells: The set was torn down. Torn down and put into a bunch of dumpsters outside stage 29 at the Warner Bros. lot. All of the furnishings and everything were saved and I've seen those presidential rugs, which we had designed specifically for the show, in other shows and other movies. But within four weeks the Ocean's 13 casino was on the stage. We all went back a couple of weeks after the set had been cleared and put a plaque on the stage for John Spencer. We stood around and talked about John and had a little reminiscence, and as we were doing it they were backing trucks in to bring in slot machines. So you know, it's temporal, this kind of work.

Whitford: I remember saying to Aaron, "This is the kind of thing where you don't want your banana to turn brown. If anything, you want to make the mistake of getting out early." Although it drives me crazy, because all I think about are... you know, there are infinite plots, West Wing episodes that I think up all the time that would be amazing.

Hill: It was a long run that we had on the show but it was something that we all knew we would never repeat; there would never be something else like this on our journey. With this show, with these actors, with these words, with this subject matter, at this moment in time: it was the end of an era.

Institutional Memory

Sheen: It's the most satisfying thing I've ever done. Every now and then I'll see an episode somewhere and I'm just intrigued by it. We actually did that and I was actually a part of it! I think it came at a time and it occupied a space that it might not have been possible to do before or since.

Whitford: It's hilarious to me that the knock on this show early on was "Washington shows don't work." We went, "No, bad Washington shows don't work." Now it's House Of Cards, Alpha House… there are political shows all over the place. It's like the new Western!

Malina: If you look now at the shows that are set in the political world, Veep and House Of Cards and my show, Scandal – it's all the cynical, dark side of DC. Aaron was able to crack the code and create a positive, idealistic view of American government. I still meet young people who are going into politics and they say, "If you ever see Aaron Sorkin, you tell him that it was The West Wing that set me on this path."

Smits: That quick-talk fast pace was really anchored, fomented in large part on The West Wing. Even in feature films you see it and it's because of what was created on the show.

Lowe: The legacy was the attraction of movie actors to television. Whether it's Kiefer Sutherland, who was debating whether he was going to do television, watched The West Wing and then decided to do 24; or Billy Peterson who was debating whether to do television, watched The West Wing and decided to do CSI. Now there's a flood. I'm surprised there's anybody left to populate the movie business! Any op-ed piece you read about writing or great acting is always about television, it's rarely about movies, and that all started with The West Wing.

"I hadn't watched any of the show, really. Then last year, I decided, "I'm going to watch these fucking shows!" Now I kind of get what everyone's talking about – it was really good stuff!"

Schiff: One of the things that was so amazing was that, here we are, character actors who were able to be a lead four or five times a year. When you get to play a character like that, that's when it feels good. That you're not just somebody that's carrying the bags for Tommy Lee Jones!

Wells: I'm just proud of the fact that the show worked, period. In American network television there's an assumption that the audience isn't very sophisticated and isn't prepared to watch more complicated storytelling and complicated characters. I was proud of the fact that people became engaged and that we proved the audience is prepared to talk about issues other than forensics!

Janney: It changed my life forever. To win four Emmys for doing that show and to have it be such a huge hit… I was an actress that was mostly known for Broadway plays and a few little parts in movies here and there. It really changed the game for me.

Moloney: We had the time of our lives. People say to me when they meet me, "Was it as fun as it looked?" And I just say, "It was way more fun than you could ever imagine." It put this high-water mark on my life forever.

Whitford: Every job I've had ever since, I call them 'labours of like'.

Schiff: I hadn't watched any of the show, really. Then last year, I decided, "I'm going to watch these fucking shows!" Now I kind of get what everyone's talking about – it was really good stuff!

Lowe: We can argue if The West Wing is the best series ever: I think it is. There's Breaking Bad, there's The Sopranos – particularly today, on cable, there are shows that give The West Wing a run for its money. There are none on network television. None. That's a conversation that you can't even have.

Hill: Whenever they talk about the history of television, they will talk about The West Wing. We were thankful to be a part of that band of brothers and sisters.

Sorkin: When we were doing the show our goal was nothing grander than to entertain you for however long we'd asked for your attention. It's understatement to say that it's gratifying to all of us that the show has a life in DVD box sets and Netflix. That people who were in grade school when the show was on the air are coming to it now like it's new. And that there are young people who say they got into public service because of the show. I'm proud that we were on at the same time as shows like The Sopranos and E.R. and Six Feet Under and The Practice and N.Y.P.D. Blue. During one of our monthly cast lunches in the first season, Brad Whitford said, "No matter what we do from here on out, this show is the first line of our obits." Martin, who was in Apocalypse Now, said, "I'm good with that". Me too.