‘Will & Grace’s’ Jack hits the road

The last installment of “Will & Grace” is finished, the goodbyes have been said. But Sean Hayes is still mum about what viewers will see Thursday night when the NBC sitcom ends its eight-season run.

“I can tell you that it’s funny and, as in the pilot, the episode is about the characters Will and Grace, with the characters of Jack and Karen there to support the Will and Grace story -- which I think is the way to end the show,” Hayes says. “Jack and Karen don’t need these incredible loose ends to be tied up, although we’ll give the fans some kind of closure for them as well.”

Obviously, the episode offers personal closure as well for Hayes, who confesses to mixed feelings as he leaves the role of Jack McFarland, the manic, flamboyantly gay character who turned the Chicago-born actor into an overnight star when “Will & Grace” premiered in 1998.

“It’s bittersweet, actually,” he says from his office at Hazy Mills Productions, the company he runs with longtime friend and business partner Todd Milliner.

“I never really pounded the pavement for a job in Los Angeles, and I know some people hate me for that, because I got lucky so quick. I could understand the animosity other actors felt when I was that age.

“I had done 30 or 40 commercials, but the point I’m getting to is that, as sad as I am to leave, to not be able to see these people every day, I’m looking forward to other experiences in life that I haven’t had the opportunity to seek out yet.”