Young Sheldon’s Annie Potts Says Her Costars Taught Her How to ‘Be Real’ (Exclusive)

Annie Potts gives a lot of credit to her young costars on Young Sheldon, who have taught her some invaluable life lessons over the course of the show’s seven seasons.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE at PaleyFest 2024 on April 14, Potts, 71, reflected on the time she spent with Iain Armitage, Raegan Revord and Montana Jordan on-set days before the cast and crew wrapped filming on Young Sheldon’s series finale.

“It’s such a delicate thing, because they’re kind of free when they say and do things,” she explained. “One of the first shows I was in, I was sitting next to Raegan at this dinner table, and during the shooting, she just put her little hand up my sleeve and played with the back of my arm that was kind of loose. She examined it and rubbed it, and I just love that she felt safe enough and she just unfettered. It was the sweetest thing.”

“I told another actor that story,” Potts continued. “They said, ‘Well, why didn’t you ask her to stop?’ I went, ‘Stop. That’s gold. I would never stop her.’ But yeah, they teach you how to just be real.’”

Armitage, 15, was just 8 years old when he stepped on the set of Young Sheldon, while Revord, now 16, was 9 when the show premiered — a fact that’s not lost on Potts.

“They were so little when we started. They were this big, and now look at them,” Potts said. “My God, they all turned out so beautiful and so sweet, and we feel like we had a hand in raising them … When we started out, they would sit in my lap and just play with my fingers and kiss me and tell me they love me all day long. That, and they still do actually. They’re a little big for my lap, but they still love me and kiss me all day long and tell me they love me. That’s not a bad way to live.”

With Young Sheldon coming to an end, several cast members also told PEOPLE at PaleyFest 2024 on April 14 that they plan on taking home small mementos from the set as reminders of their time on the show.

Revord plans on taking a tapestry behind her character Missy Cooper’s bed. She’d also love to take home several miniature spoons, which she collects.

“We went to London and I found one at a flea market and I was like, ‘The obsession has started, and Zoe … has a holder of miniature spoons,” she told PEOPLE at the event. “That’s also mine. I’m running with it. I love them.”

Lance Barber, meanwhile, is keen to hold onto an acrylic photo cube in George (Barber) and Mary’s (Perry) bedroom. “Back in when I was a kid, these were popular,” he said, adding, ”I’d love to take that home with me as a memorabilia for my time with Young Sheldon.”

But for Potts, it’s not any one material object she’ll keep with her for years to come — it’s the memories.

“It’s just incredible that I was walking around the set the other day thinking, oh, that, and then I thought, no, it’s the memories. It’s not an object,” Potts explained. “It’s the feelings that are treasures.”

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Young Sheldon airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.