Karen Grassle took a step back from being associated with Little House on the Prairie after leaving the show following season 8. "I had limited my interactions with fans very much. I really didn't go to many events. I didn't hang out with everybody. I separated myself," Grassle, 83, told People in an interview published on Wednesday, December 17. "[I later thought], 'I've got to get out there.' I started with social media, and I started going out to these events. I was astonished at what I learned about people's affection for the character of Caroline." Grassle starred as "Ma" Caroline Ingalls for the first eight seasons of The Little House on the Prairie, the beloved series based on Laura Ingalls Wilder's novel of the same name. It was only in meeting fans that Grassle realized how special the show was. "I had no idea the depth of affection that people had for this character," she told the outlet. "It just filled my heart because I worked so hard to make something special out of that character, and there were many days that I did not look forward to going to work." Where The Cast of 'Little House on the Prairie' Is Now Grassle further marveled how "incredible" it is that fans still care about Caroline decades after the show premiered. "What a payoff! I mean how many people this long after they do a piece of work, get this kind of feedback?" she said. "[I am] grateful for what I had and ... stop thinking about what I didn't have." Grassle had faced tension with her Little House onscreen husband, Michael Landon, between takes. "I ran myself into the ground with resentment and anger and hurt feelings and just pure exhaustion," she further told People, before former costar Alison Arngrim agreed that Grassle and Landon "would absolutely butt heads" on set. Grassle had previously been candid about her fraught relationship with Landon, who died in 1991 at the age of 54. Mathew Laborteaux, Michael Landon, Karen Grassle and Melissa Sue Anderson in 'Little House on the Prairie' season 6. NBC / Courtesy of Everett Collection "It took me a long time to really dig in and fully uncover the layers of my story," she told The New York Post in 2021. "I had to resist my natural propensity for privacy to get to the truth." While Grassle acknowledged that Landon was an "amazing, multi-talented person," she found him to be demanding behind the scenes. "He was very highly strung, but he was carrying the weight of the show on his shoulders," she claimed, alleging that they fought over salary discrepancies. "I felt insulted as his costar on a hit series. I didn't want to gouge anybody, but I expected a fair wage." Melora Hardin Remembers Michael Landon Didn't Tolerate 'A-holes' on Set Grassle further alleged that Landon would make "disgusting jokes" when the cameras stopped rolling. "It was almost like I was frozen, but, as a woman in the 1970s film industry, I was so accustomed to these putdowns," she recalled to The Post. "It never occurred to me to sharply rebuke him. I kept up the professionalism. I'd be the good girl, play the part and hope." Grassle and Landon eventually reconciled in the years after Little House concluded, telling the outlet that she was "very grateful that [they] mended our fences."