Younger star Peter Hermann weighs in on Charles and Liza’s future

While Younger season 7 continues, fans have been buzzing about what the new—and final—season of the Paramount Plus series has meant for Charles and Liza. Will they end up together at the conclusion of the series?

Peter Hermann, who plays Charles, recently connected with Hidden Remote to give his point of view on the controversial scene this season where he and Liza (Sutton Foster) went their separate ways. He also spoke about Charles outside of that relationship, and what working on the show for so many years has meant to him.

Check out what Peter had to say in our interview; you can stream a new episode of Younger now and catch up on the whole seventh season exclusively on Paramount Plus.

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Hidden Remote: This season of Younger is also the final season. What has it been like for you, saying goodbye to Charles and now seeing the final episodes make it out to the fans?

Peter Hermann: I’ll be honest with you. The thing that I’m saddest about letting go of is all the people that we worked together with for seven years. The writers on the show were so good, so I got to bring a lot of who I am into this character. And I get to walk away with a lot of him.

But I just miss the people. That’s the easiest way of saying it. Cast and crew. We were extraordinarily fortunate in how much we adored each other. The affection that we had for each other. That all came gushing down from Sutton, because she is as extraordinary as she is, and it had a really profound, beautiful effect on how we all related to each other. There was a certain feeling on our set, whether it was six in the morning or two o’clock in the afternoon or two o’clock in the morning; it just felt good, and I miss that.

HR: There was a lot of debate when Younger season 7 started and viewers saw Charles and Liza butt heads over the idea of marriage. It was a very polarizing scene. What are your thoughts on that, and where their dynamic is now after that?

PH: If you ask Charles, it probably depends on what day you ask him. Whether what he did was right or wrong, or whether he regrets it. I think that he has to evaluate how far he can bend without breaking. [They have] these two opposing views on marriage and whether they want to enter into a marriage, and he has to decide whether he’s able to say, “Yeah, I’m going to abandon this idea that I deeply, deeply believe in, so that we can be together.”

He really, deeply, deeply, deeply wants to marry her, and he says, “No, I’m not willing to let that go,” and lets her go. Yet he is Charles and she is Liza, and it takes a lot to actually put a dent in the connection between them.

HR: Charles isn’t solely defined by his romantic relationship with Liza, though. What else is ahead for him in the remainder of this season?

PH: I think what you said is so right. It’s not these one-dimensional characters who say, “Ah, yes. The only thing that lives in me is a search for my mate.” These are deeply human characters. They’re complicated. I think that the writers did this so elegantly. Darren [Star] did it so elegantly. Be on the lookout for how he finds fulfillment.

HR: Younger has struck a chord with so many TV viewers, whether it’s tackling issues about ageism, sexism, self-worth or other topics. What do you think it is about the show that has reached people, and is there anything specific you want them to leave the series with?

PH: I think that we live in a cynical age. The daily sarcasm and cynicism, and kind of low-level snarkiness with which we all talk to each other and with which we interact the world, it’s so present. It has become so deeply part of our lives that we don’t even hear it anymore. And I think Younger has always been a really welcome break from that. You have these beautiful friendships, especially the female friendships on the show of women unabashedly rooting for each other. I love that.

There are certainly characters on the show who undermine each other, because they’re all human beings. But in general, I think that it is a really positive picture of friendship. Of relationships. Of romance. I don’t want to say, “Hey, I hope that people take away from the show that this is a way to interact.” I don’t mean that. But I do feel incredibly lucky to have been part of something that, for a moment in time was deeply delightful to those who watched it. Especially in the world today, during the pandemic. We got to make something that entertained, and that brings laughter, and it brings tears, and a piece where there were characters that people rooted for.

I always felt we were doing something special. We all felt that way. And we made the show with an incredible amount of affection—for each other, for the show, for the fans. It’s always felt like something that we did together. That affection that we had for the show, even if just a little bit of it trickled through, I feel that we were able to give that as a gift.

And to receive the gift back of the enthusiasm that people had for the show; we all take away as much as anyone, and possibly more. We walk away after this extraordinarily special time. It really was. Just to have been able to work, to shoot in New York City, everything that went into that was a real gift.

Younger streams Thursdays on Paramount Plus.