Younger Cast Members Talk Season 5 and #MeToo

TV Land’s Younger is becoming known for its ability to stay timely as we become further invested in Liza’s story and the rest of the characters on the series.

Cast members Miriam Shor, Charles Michael Davis, Nico Tortorella, and Debi Mazar sat down with reporters at the ATX Television Festival earlier this month to discuss Younger Season 5, its #MeToo storyline, what we can expect from each of their characters, and more. (For our conversation with Younger’s Sutton Foster and Peter Hermann, head over here.)

#LizaToo

Younger Season 5 starts off by diving head first into a #MeToo storyline, something that the cast was excited for particularly because of the way that story is told.

“It’s organic. It feels right that these characters would be talking about this,” Shor said, noting that there had been a shift from previous seasons. “What used to seem funny is not so funny right now, you know? And then they brought it up, and not just that but also the relationship between Charles and Liza, they had to sort of look at that, and it’s just so smart. I was so proud of our show.”

“They addressed it head on, because how can you talk about a workplace and the women in the workplace now, without talking about that, and be genuine? It was nice to be a part of that conversation, and to the fact that they were also able to make it funny,” Shor continued.

“There’s almost something prophetic about the show that they tackle things even before they’ve happened which is really incredible,” said Tortorella. “The writers have always done such an amazing job of unpacking really large issues with a sense of humility. We’re a half hour rom-com but we’re taking on these really big issues in the world. I think that especially with #MeToo to approach that conversation with that sense of humility makes the conversation more digestible in some way.”

“Younger did it in a way that is super impactful [but] we’re still laughing throughout the entire episode,” Tortorella added.

“It’s not a new conversation. #MeToo got a little hashtag moment but this is a conversation that’s been going on historically,” Mazar said. “I think the great thing is that women are finally speaking up [and] are taking control of their lives.”

“It’s something that our writers are really smart about. And I think that they realize, almost, their mistake from Season 4, of allowing Liza to be put in that situation,” Mazar continued.

Zane

Charles Michael Davis, who plays the role of Zane, shared a bit about what we can expect from his character this season. But first, he spoke about coming to Younger from another series, The Originals.

Davis said he felt lucky because he’s been “on different shows with different casts, and they’ve all been really, really good.”

“For me personally, it’s such a surprise because — I pinch myself, like here we are. I came in, while on another show, still running right off of that show, [and] immediately I’m made a regular during one of the best seasons,” Davis said of joining Younger’s cast.

He expected he’d need to be funny but quickly realized that wasn’t what was expected of him.

“After the first few episodes we were filming I realized, ‘this is how I fit into the role.’ You know, I don’t necessarily have to be as funny as Miriam is, because she’s really really funny. I can just sit and admire and know that my character needs to be this. He needs to be charming and ambitious, and kind of help drive and push Kelsey in one direction and fill this part in for Millennial.”

In terms of what we can expect from Zane this season, we’ll get to know him a little better.

“You can see a little bit more behind the character,” Davis said. He also noted that Zane will “make some decisions that I think go against who you think he is in this season and some of those decisions involve Kelsey, and some of those take place with Charles.”

Diana

Debi Mazar said one of her favorite storylines this season involves Diana. “Miriam Shor has the best storyline of all in my opinion,” Mazar exclaimed.

Shor elaborated on this, explaining that an “old flame” comes back into her life. “[That] throws me a bit for a loop and makes me vulnerable, which is my favorite thing to do — when the writers tap into Diana’s discomfort zone. I always love that. And force her to confront her own vulnerability, which is always fun and challenging.”

On top of that, Shor also took a seat in the director’s chair this season, directing Younger Season 5 Episode 5.

“It was everything,” Shor said. “I’m 46 and I challenged myself to do something really intense, and I feel like I learned a lot and found I’m good at something I didn’t know I was good at before, and I love it. So it was great. And Charles was actually helpful because he’s directed before on his previous show, and I talked with him about it and he was so encouraging. It was really helpful.”

“My episode was — female director, female first AD, female writer, female editor. So it was, female scripting, you know — gender fluid character who was cast as a gender fluid actor. So it’s just a really great, really fun experience and everybody was so good at what they do.”

Josh

Josh is brokenhearted yet again from the start of this season, following a breakup with the woman he’s just married.

“It’s no secret that Josh’s relationship history has always been a little bit troubled, and that theme doesn’t go away,” Tortorella hinted.

He also talked about a new character we can look forward to, who has an interesting impact on Josh.

“It’s our first nonbinary character on the show, which is awesome,” Tortorella said. “There’s something meta about it. Josh’s character is actually the one that doesn’t understand.”

“[Josh] gets schooled a little bit in the nonbinary space and that’s such a huge part of my life — gender non-conforming and nonbinary issues, and it’s so interesting to be able to play the role that is so opposite of me in that space,” Tortorella continued.

The friendship between Liza and Josh is also something we can plan on seeing more of this season.

“Josh and Liza built a bridge a long time ago, and it’s going to take a lot to burn that down. I am really into this idea of them, almost having this familial unit moving forward and being there for each other,” Tortorella said. “They were so important in each others’ lives, in their evolutions, that it just doesn’t go away.”

Maggie

“It’s a slight rollercoaster. She has to deal with some facts about her life where she’s afraid of commitment and she gets vulnerable this season. [She] has to wake up and face that reality and figure out how she wants to conduct her life. And she has some extremely fantastic business success this year,” Mazar said.

And more to look forward to

“Kaitlin comes back into the picture this season,” Mazar confirmed. “We’ll see some stuff with her that’s really interesting. There’s a few people that revisit romances, not just Liza, so some people come back. We’ve got a couple of really nice guest stars coming up. Martha Plimpton comes back.”

“Lauren has an amazing storyline,” Mazar further hinted. “Hillary Duff has some wonderful stuff.”

Mazar and Tortorella are also excited about the friendship that’s grown between their characters. “In our personal lives, we really dig each other as people. So the writers are smart enough to, I think, use what they see percolating,” Mazar said.

“Yeah, Debi and I are from the same tribe,” Tortorella added.

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Younger airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on TV Land.

Check out all of our coverage of the ATX Television Festival right here. There is a lot more to come!

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