Playing Pluto: Michael Zegen is grateful he’s still in ‘Mrs. Maisel’s’ orbit

“I thought he was going to be a guest star… and then they sent the cast breakdown and it said he was a series regular, so I was like, ‘Oh, even better.’ I had no idea. I honestly thought this was it for him.”

In the first season of the series, Zegen’s Joel Maisel and his wife, Midge, divorce. She embarks on a standup comedy career and he bounces from the family business to his own enterprise. In five seasons, he takes big swings and remains a vital part of the Emmy-winning series.

“They were able to create this whole journey and evolution for the character,” Zegen says. “He’s still in Midge’s orbit but he’s probably like Pluto as opposed to Venus.”

Now, in its final season, “Mrs. Maisel” updates viewers on her career success, his business savvy and the future ventures of their children. As in previous seasons, the series covers a lot of territory and surprises with plot twists most didn’t see coming.

As the last episodes were being filmed, co-stars Tony Shalhoub and Kevin Pollak told Zegen they felt sorry for him. “There’s no way you’re going to top something like this,” they said.

“So it’s over for me, basically,” Zegen says with a smile.

In its first season, “Mrs. Maisel” won just about every award a television show can get. It was bigger than most series, too, dropping in period settings that weren’t easy to construct. “It was just lightning in a bottle,” Zegen says. “I didn’t know it was going to be this big. I knew people were going to like it. I’ve done shows that people watch, but this took it to a new level.”

Much of the series’ success can be attributed to creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, who knows how to marshal troops. “There’s a level of trust involved with her that’s unparalleled,” Zegen says. The secret to her success: “She’s a former dancer and she thinks like a dancer. Even our background actors, a lot of them are dancers and it’s always like a dance.

“We get there at like 5:30 in the morning and then we start blocking it out and sometimes they’re huge scenes but it’s clear she’s in charge. To have a director who knows what she wants is, in my experience, rare. I’ll just do anything she wants.”

Among those anythings: A shirtless scene in which Joel shows he clearly has been working out. “I like to take care of myself,” Zegen says with a smile. “If I have to show off the goods, so be it. You should always think like that.”

The moment caused a social media stir and helped propel Joel Maisel into another realm. Over the years, he has encountered a whole world of characters who didn’t interact with Midge. When the two worlds combined, “Mrs. Maisel” was magic, the 44-year-old actor says.

Often, Joel would be in the audience when Midge was doing standup. Watching her, Zegen says, was a delight. “Rachel (Brosnahan, who plays Midge) can do anything. She always talks about how nervous she is. I don’t buy it. Anytime I got to work with her was a joy. Our scenes together were always my favorite. She was born to perform. I don’t know if she would be a standup comedian, but I’m sure she could handle that as well.”

“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” stands out from other comedies because it dared to try new things and wasn’t concerned if it took more than 20 minutes to do it.

“The scripts are always long,” Zegen says. “Our show is supposed to be like 55 to 60 pages. Our scripts are like 90 to 100 pages. And the show is big. It’s been big from the beginning. We went to Paris in the second season, the Catskills and Miami, so there’s a lot of stuff. And yet, it’s still ‘Maisel.’”

Now that filming is over, the actors haven’t drifted apart. They still text and talk. “I don’t think it’ll ever quite feel ‘over over,’” Zegen says. “I know the reality of it – we’re not going to be filming anymore – and that’s devastating.”

While he moves on to the “The Penguin,” a new Max series, Zegen admits everything post-“Maisel” will be measured against the hit comedy.

“This has been the greatest experience of my life so far, workwise,” he says. “It’s going to be very hard to top this.”