The Younger cast, executive producer and creator let fans get to know them as they discussed the show at PaleyFest on Monday night.
We’re all sitting on the edge of our seats each week wondering if Liza’s secret will blow up in her face and just how long she can continue having a double life.
It’s unclear when Liza will reveal her secret to Kelsey or be busted, but executive producer Dottie Zicklin and creator Darren Star say, the show can go on even after the secret is revealed because it’s about the characters, not the secret.
Dottie said for Liza’s job she needed to keep the secret, but she didn’t need to with Josh and that’s why they had her tell him.
Dottie continued to say that she feels Liza doesn’t want to put the burden of the secret on Kelsey and that’s why she keeps holding back.
The creator and EP wouldn’t disclose when more people would find out about Liza’s secret, but at least we know that she show can continue.
I’ve said in the past that I want her to keep the secret as long as possible just so the show could continue, now I know there is life after the secret.
We will have to continue to wait for Liza to choose between Josh and Charles. Darren said there will still be a question mark surrounding the guys at the end of the season.
He also said that they had no idea that the fans would react to Josh and Charles the way that they have. Yes, they were writing a love triangle, but it’s kind of taken on a life of its own.
They also said that they feel you never really know who Liza should be with.
Unfortunately, at the moment, I say Liza should be with Josh because of the way he’s stepped up in the first two episodes of this season. There seems to be a lot of Charles in the promo, though, so we’ll see if the writers can sway me at all.
Peter Hermann (Charles Brooks) is a fan of the triangle and said, “different people wake up different things in people’s souls.”
This is very true, Josh and Charles bring out very different things in Liza. Her fun side gets to come out with Josh and with Charles, she gets to build her career and share her ideas for the company.
Younger is very different than a lot of other shows and Darren pointed this out.
“It’s a show about people who value work,” he said.
That’s why you don’t see the characters in a coffee shop or bar. If you think of Friends and How I Met Your Mother, they were hardly at work.
Liza is carrying on this double life because of her career, not because of a guy.
Publishing is a big part of the show and they even have a publishing consultant. They guess at things and the consultant tells them if they are right. Most of the time they are.
It’s very important to them to get the jargon right and nine out of 10 of the crazy things publishing wise have actually happened.
If you are a fan of Diana, get ready to learn more about her this season.
“Diana gets some action this season,” Darren said.
“And no penises broken,” Miriam Shor (Diana Trout) added.
Miriam is looking forward to delving more into her character this season. We already got to see her wild side in the first episode and her closet.
Diana isn’t the only character getting more love this season. Lauren, played by Molly Bernard, is getting more attention too. She had one line in the pilot and the producers loved her so much they had to find more for her to do.
A lot of the discussion surrounded the love triangle and the secret, but Molly had a very interesting story to tell. She wrote a letter to Sutton Foster when she was in high school and Sutton signed a photo saying, “follow your dreams.”
She did exactly that. All she wanted to do was go to the Yale School of Drama and she succeeded in her goal and then was like, “now what?” Then she got on Younger and met Sutton.
Sutton reminded us all to follow our dreams and apparently she was very emotional on set when Molly told her the story.
Sutton was a sweetheart on the stage as well. She feels she still hasn’t figured everything out yet, so playing 26-year-old Liza came naturally to her.
This is only her second TV show, the Tony award winning actress is used to the stage. She said she’s been taken very good care of on TV while she’s been figuring it out. She feels like she graduated after doing four seasons of TV, three of Younger and one of Bunheads.
Now she’s rehearsing for a play. She jokes saying it’s hard work because in TV, every 15 minutes you take a break for lighting.
A big fan favorite on the show is Nico Tortorella (Josh). Unlike Molly, he had no idea who Sutton was when he joined the cast. He asked her what she did and when she said theater, he asked where.
We may all love Josh now, but the producers had a very hard time casting the part. They were filming the pilot and they still hadn’t cast the crucial role. Sutton and Nico only met the day of filming and everything just clicked.
If you haven’t checked out this amazing show yet, make sure to tune in on TV Land on Wednesday nights. First, check out iTunes to see the first two seasons.
Check out my exclusive interview with Sutton Foster on the red carpet before the panel:
Check out my exclusive interview with Nico Tortorella on the red carpet before the panel:
