'Kevin Can Wait' ex-star Erinn Hayes has moved on from CBS firing: 'I'm very lucky at this point in my career'

So far, mentions of Donna on Season 2 have been minimal, to say the least. (CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved)

Fired “Kevin Can Wait” star Erinn Hayes has moved on from her headline-making exit from the CBS show.

She is now on the Amazon Prime original series “The Dangerous Books for Boys,” which features actor Bryan Cranston among its executive producers.

In “Kevin Can Wait,” Hayes starred opposite Kevin James before her character was suddenly killed off in the summer of 2017. A CBS representative told Fox News at the time Hayes’ departure was due to “the show going in a different creative direction.”

Shortly after the plot twist, she was replaced by Leah Remini, James’ longtime co-star on the previous hit “King of Queens.”

But Hayes has zero regrets – even though her exit from the show was far from a clean breakup.

“I had a great time on that show,” Hayes told Fox News. “It ended, and it opened me up to work on this show… I’m very lucky at this point in my career where most [of] the people that reach out to say something to me… have been so kind and so wonderful and so supportive. And I hope they love this show as well. It’s been a beautiful experience. Really happy to be a part of it. I hope it continues… I hope the people that have liked me in other shows enjoy this show.”

On the new Amazon series she plays a mourning widow, Beth, who is doing her best to raise her sons as a single parent.

Hayes shared that as an actress, she felt completely at ease working with the cast.

“I mean, for myself as a performer, walking in was like, ‘Oh, I’m protected, I’m safe. This is a great space to then just take a breath and create something,’” she recalled.

Cranston revealed in a recent interview it was Hayes firing that caught his attention when he was casting “The Dangerous Books for Boys.”

“I think, truly, it was a day or two after I heard [she was leaving Kevin Can Wait] I sent her a personal note,” Cranston said. “[I said], ‘Take a look, read this. It’s a beautiful piece.’ It’s for families, and I know she’s a mom in real life. ‘I think you’ll just kill this.’ And she read it and she really liked it and we talked. It was probably the easiest casting that we had.”

Bryan Cranston called Hayes to join his series. (Reuters)

Hayes had her two daughters, ages 8 and 10, in mind while filming. She said one thing that attracted her to the role is that the show is family friendly.

“… It’s hard to find shows that we want to watch together that are appropriate,” she admitted. “There are wonderful family shows, I’m thinking like ‘One Day at a Time’ or something, where it’s a little bit geared towards a family with older kids, whereas this show is really the sweet spot for these kids that are in their adolescence and maybe… you haven’t had every conversation with them yet, but it’s all appropriate and fun, and I think everybody can get something out of it. It’s not a show where the kids only have one line, or the parents just have one line. It’s really about the family, so families can watch it.”

“The Dangerous Book for Boys” is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.