Stephanie Arcila was just as surprised as fans by Fire Country‘s controversial decision to write Gabriela off of the show.

“I had no idea ever. It was a complete shock,” Arcila, 35, exclusively told Us Weekly about how she discovered her exit while filming the season 3 finale, which aired on Friday, April 25. “But at the same time, I know that this is the nature of the industry that I’m in, and I have accepted the flow of release and acceptance throughout my journey and knowing that when one door closes, another one opens always.”

Arcila wanted to walk away happy with the time she had to play Gabriela, adding, “We have this beautiful eternal door of revolving desires in what we love in life. I believe that if we put resistance towards that, sometimes it stops us from fulfilling other things that we love.”

During Friday’s finale, Gabriela faced off against her stalker with Audrey’s (Leven Rambin) help and ended the season on a more positive note. News broke after the finale aired that Arcila wouldn’t return as a main cast member after three seasons on the hit CBS series.

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“The minute that they told me [Gabriela wouldn’t return as a main character], I accepted it. I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to put Gabriela in this beautiful little drawer of fulfilled dreams and let the universe take over,’” the actress recalled. “I respect every department in our industry, and I know that we all know what we’re doing and have a way with storytelling. It’s a collaborative process. I have no idea [where Gabriela’s story] would go from here, but you never know [about a possible return].”

After confirming Arcila’s departure, showrunner Tia Napolitano hinted at future guest spots. Arcila has accepted that Gabriela’s time on Fire Country has essentially wrapped up — but she’s keeping every option open.

CBS

“I would love to see Gabriela [in the future] in her bloom. Lotus flowers go through the mud, and she’s gone through the dirt. Gabriela has gone through the trenches and through the water,” Arcila reflected. “I believe that in life there’s times where we’re treading water, and there’s times where we’re floating. Gabriela has been treading for a while. I would love to see her just float and bloom and own her power. She needs to own the incredibly resilient, smart, capable and worthy woman that she is.”

Arcila was also thrilled that Gabriela had a chance to get to a better place with her dad, Manny (Kevin Alejandro), before her exit, saying, “The father-daughter relationship has always been so important to me — in my personal life as Stephanie. The reason why Kevin and I became so close is because he reminds me a lot of my real father. They’re both really silly, so joyful and both extremely disciplined and serious when it comes to work. They both have a lot of light in them. So the fact that I can portray a mirror of that in my real life and within the show was so beautiful.”

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It was “important” for Arcila that Gabriela have a meaningful relationship with her father.

“The great part about it is going through the conflicts. I don’t think conflict is something that is bad,” she noted. “Conflict is good and it is when you find out what you yearn for, what you need and where your boundaries are. It’s just a matter of communication.”

While discussing possible ways for Gabriela to come back, Arcila showed support for Us‘ idea that Gabriela have her own Fire Country spinoff. Perhaps Med Country?

CBS

“Call it forth! I never say never. I love what I do. I love creating and this is the character that I’ve been able to have the longest journey with. So it’s been really beautiful to create and that’s every artist’s dream,” she noted. “Normally, the longest-running characters I’ve had always have an ending because telenovelas are like 90 to 120 episodes. This is the longest I’ve had with a character, so it’s very ingrained in my heart.”

Arcila has felt even more grateful after seeing the immense online support after the controversial decision to write her character off.

“I have received all those messages. People have so much love for Gabriela — and I didn’t realize it. We’re in such a bubble sometimes when we’re working nine months out of the year. So you don’t realize that,” she explained. “Then when we get back, we try to pour into ourselves because we pour so much into these characters. So to have this big reaction and this amount of mourning that the fans are having — it’s like a big hug. It warms my heart so much.”

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The outpouring of love comes two months after Arcila filmed Gabriela’s last episode — for now. At the time, Arcila was also grieving some personal loss in her life, telling Us, “It was extremely difficult. I think everybody has a different relationship with death and I have such a special one that involves a lot of peace with it. Knowing that I have people watching over me now and that I was able to have those relationships with them too.”

She continued: “I was able to build on that and communicate with them and love them and tell them how much I love them and know that they left with such a beautiful, fulfilled life. They lived a very good life and a very joyful life.”

CBS

According to Arcila, she didn’t get a chance yet to celebrate her time on Fire Country with the cast, adding, “I got some messages. I didn’t really get to see everyone. Our schedules are all so different and toward the end, everybody wants to go back to their family. I completely understand that. But I have a lot of peace and in life things are not personal. You have to know that you’ve built the foundation of those relationships. I am just excited that a lot of us live here in L.A. so I get to see some people and then hopefully also continue working with them if it’s not on other projects as well.”

Arcila isn’t looking back but forward. So what would be a dream role after Gabriela?

“Gabriela is the closest-looking character to me that I’ve ever played. I would love to go back into some of my character work that I used to do. I would play someone that looks absolutely nothing like me. I could maybe do theater — that’s my first love,” she gushed to Us. “I’m obsessed with anime so that would be really, really cool to be a part of an anime. I’m also open as a creative at heart, so anything that is thrown my way that feels in alignment in my heart — I’m open to receiving it.”

Fire Country is currently streaming on Paramount+.