Over the course of seven seasons, Younger has found its way into the hearts and homes of countless viewers. What started as a novel by Pamela Redmond about a 44-year old housewife getting back in touch with her 20s became a beloved TV Land series that finished off its seventh and final season on Paramount+ earlier this year. Starring Broadway superstar Sutton Foster, the show follows her character Liza Miller as she makes her way back into publishing after being off the job market for nearly two decades.
Of course, Liza's not above dabbling in some romance as she makes her way up the corporate ladder. Nico Tortorella (The Walking Dead: World Beyond) plays Josh, the 26-year old tattoo artist who falls for Liza at first sight and with a slight miscalculation as to her age. Though Josh and Liza don't spend the entire series together - her boss Charles (Peter Hermann, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) makes a pretty compelling case for her affections at times - their bond is certainly an unshakeable one from start to finish.
With the series having wrapped, all 84 episodes are now available to own in one boxed DVD set - complete with deleted scenes from every season, bloopers, episode commentaries by creator Darren Star, and #TeamCharles vs. #TeamJosh bookmarks. To commemorate the release, Tortorella spoke to Screen Rant about the highs and lows of filming the final season with the Younger family incomplete, as well as possibilities for expanding Josh's story beyond the original series.
Screen Rant: I really enjoyed Younger, but the final season obviously had a very different feel, since the pandemic caused certain actors to not be available. What was the atmosphere like for you when shooting that final leg of the series?
Nico Tortorella: Yeah, we were supposed to start in March of 2020. We were slated to go back to work, and then New York City fell apart and the whole world as well, and we didn't really know what the plan was. There were a few ideas floating around as time changed everything, and no one had a grasp on anything.
When we found out we were going to go up in August or September, it was like, "Okay, game on, y'all!" We were one of the first people up in New York City, and it was a lot. We lost our stage; we were shooting in deep Brooklyn on a stage that wasn't totally put together yet, to be honest with you. I think that we had been really spoiled for the last six seasons on this show in so many ways, but we showed up to a new world.
Between testing and masks, shutting down every other week, and figuring out what the SAG rules were, I think that we were all still so blessed to go to work on a project that we were familiar with. We all have supported each other emotionally and spiritually for so long - this has been seven years we've spent together, and now this last leg was in the middle of the world falling apart. We were all so lucky to have each other because going to a new job in the middle of that would have been close to impossible for any actor - and a lot of actors did it.
But just the rehearsal process alone would have been hard. I don't think people realize that television rehearsal is slim to none; the only reason you are rehearsing is for the DP to set up the shot. Showing up to rehearse with a mask and a visor on, having no idea what the other person is doing until the cameras roll and you get maybe two takes? If that, because you're trying to beat the day. It's a completely different world. Thankfully, I have been shooting with Sutton and Hillary [Duff] and Molly [Bernard] and Debbie [Mazar] for six years. I know what they're doing, and I know who Josh is - he is a part of me. So, to have Josh during that was incredible, and to have the cast? I couldn't imagine a better job to go and work on in the middle of the pandemic.
And it was emotional, to say the least. In many ways, this was like summer camp for all of us. We spend three or four months together and make amazingly fun television. We missed a couple of really great actors that weren't able to join us, and we knew this was the final season in a lot of ways. But I think always, in each of us, there's a piece of us that knows that there will be more at some point; that this isn't the end for us. It's just impossible to kill something that's not dead in this industry, and the way that this story ends is so open and leaves room for so much more.
We all have other jobs and do other things, and I think that's what's such a blessing about this job. In terms of the year, it's a really short stint. Sutton's doing Music Man right now, Hillary's doing How I Met Your Father - we're kind of all over the place. I went straight from Younger to Walking Dead, days apart. And when the time is right, the stars will align and we'll find each other again, whether it's for a film or a miniseries. Or who knows? A Josh spin-off. I'm here for the conversation.
I know you want to Josh spin-off, which I'm totally here for. As single father, who is also a landlord with a tattoo empire, there's so many stories for him that a series could follow. What do you envision for him if ever Younger resurfaces - whether it's a spin-off, a movie, or a reunion?
Nico Tortorella: Honestly, I am working on becoming a father in my own life right now, and there's a lot that comes along with that. I think specifically for Josh, in the context of this storyline, it would be really cool to focus on his relationship with his child and what that looks like in Brooklyn. Potentially even his child questioning the world around her in ways that we haven't really seen - almost thing the show through her eyes.
Maybe Gemma is questioning her own identity and gender and who she is in the world. Seeing that with Josh and doing that together, I think, could be really special.
I love that idea, like the next Gilmore Girls. Now, between Team Josh and Team Charles, I'm obviously Team Josh.
Nico Tortorella: We won, obviously.
But in the final season, you got to spend almost more time with Kelsey, Lauren, and Maggie, exploring those friendships on the fringes of Josh's life with Liza. What is it that keeps bringing Josh back to the ladies in Liza's life?
Nico Tortorella: Josh doesn't have friends outside of the women on this show. We learned that very quickly.
I actually just shot a movie with Jake Choi, who was one of my friends in the first season of Younger. We haven't worked together in 7 years, and I was like, "Oh, my gosh. Remember when Josh had other friends that existed?" Honestly, full shade for a second, Josh was an afterthought this season. Let's be honest.
And I think that's okay. This was never my show; it was never Josh's show. Josh was always a vehicle to help tell the women's stories. We got to see him in relation to them, and we rarely saw him separately. And I'm totally okay with it. I love the amount that I got to work on this show. Could we have told more of Josh's story? Yes, absolutely. But there's still time for that.
Despite it not being the Josh show, there still was a lot of Josh over the course of seven years. What were the biggest lessons that you took away for yourself, either as an actor or a coworker in this family environment?
Nico Tortorella: We've all said it before, but work ethic really starts at the top. Sutton Foster led this show with such grace, and I carry her with me - her and Peter [Hermann], really. I carry them both with me in everything that I do, not just at work.
The sense of community that we had on this show and the collaborative energy is a dream come true. I don't think I realized how good I had it on that show - that we all had it on that show - until I went and worked on another show. But we're so lucky to have had each other and this story.
To run through this career with grace and gratitude is the most important thing that an actor, or any artist or really any person, can do. We're so lucky to get to do what we love and make a living off of it that to ever take that for granted is so silly to me. I'm just really grateful to have learned all of that through these amazing people.
You mentioned The Walking Dead: World Beyond earlier, which is ending this week. What was it like to make that jump between Josh and Felix?
Nico Tortorella: I can actually talk about it freely because the final episode is currently on AMC+! Spoiler alert: Felix survives an epic battle at the end of the last episode, or the middle of the last episode. It was my favorite fight sequence to shoot to date. It was a grueling day - really, a grueling few weeks training for that fight - but I'm so happy with the way that it came out.
That job is in so many ways the exact opposite of Younger: an hour-long drama, zombies, high physicality, post-apocalyptic... It's just the exact opposite of Younger, and I'm so grateful that I was able to do both simultaneously and also mid-pandemic.
I think I learned a lot shooting that first season of The Walking Dead. Then I went back and shot the seventh season of Younger, and then went literally the next day to The Walking Dead. That's why I look so much bigger in the last season of Younger because I put on 25 pounds [slaying zombies]. I had to! It was hard, but it really made me focus on the work itself.
Younger wasn't a challenging job as an actor, let's just make that clear. I showed up and play a watered-down version of myself. It's very light and happy, though there's a few emotional moments in there. But The Walking Dead was challenging for a multitude of reasons. I think having Younger as that backbone really made the job a lot easier.
All 7 seasons of Younger are now available to own as a complete box DVD set, as well as available to stream on Hulu and Paramount+.
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