Younger season 7: Nico Tortorella on letting Josh go and that final scene

With Younger‘s series finale streaming this week on Paramount+, there’s a sizeable hole in the hearts of many TV viewers. But what was it like for the people who made this cult hit series to say goodbye?

Nico Tortorella, who was a fan favorite as tattoo artist Josh, spoke to Hidden Remote about their experience wrapping the series—while also shooting their new starring role in the Walking Dead spinoff The Walking Dead: World Beyond. Plus, what were their thoughts on Josh’s last scene?

Check out our interview with Nico before you stream the complete series of Younger, from the beginning to the finale, on Paramount+. And for more on Younger season 7, read our interview with Peter Hermann.

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Hidden Remote: Younger has been years of your life and career. How did it feel for you to shoot the final season and to let go of Josh?

Nico Tortorella: It’s been a lot. It’s been a labor of love, for sure. I think this year has been really traumatic for everyone. I have been so lucky to have been working from August of last year; I’m still working right now. I went straight from Younger to The Walking Dead.

I started this pandemic really coming straight off from playing Felix [Carlucci] in a post-apocalyptic world with zombies. Went straight into 2020. Went back to Josh, kind of said my goodbye to that character in that universe, then went straight back into Felix, and have been living in that universe for the last six months. I’m shooting the last couple episodes right now. I’m just so grateful to have had both characters to kind of channel that energy into.

I have been able to go to work regardless of the world around us. Obviously it’s been different and it’s been harder, especially shooting in New York City. We were shutting down every other week. It’s been a feat. It’s really been kind of this love letter to New York City…Now I’m down in the South, and being in Richmond after the revolution that this country has experienced has been really intense and empowering and beautiful all at the same time. You pass the Robert E. Lee statue that’s covered in graffiti and messaging and all of the other Confederate statues that are down—so much has happened in the last two years. I feel really grateful to just still be here and to be a witness to it all.

HR: Josh had an incredible growth arc over the course of Younger. He could have been written as just a fling for Liza, but we saw him move on and have a child and sort of find himself. What was it like for you, as the person portraying him, to have him evolve as much as he did?

NT: He really started out as a boy and kind of became a man by the end of the series. In so many ways I did, too. It’s interesting—in a half-hour comedy that’s specifically female-driven and female-played, Josh was there to really serve the greater storyline. I’m so grateful to have been in that position, and to play this arc out and really see him grow into the man that he is today, but I can’t help wanting more.

I want to know what happens now. By the end of this season, in so many ways it is a closed book, but that last moment when you see Josh…there’s so much more story to be written. I’m just left wanting more.

HR: Is there anything that you particularly wanted and the show didn’t get to?

NT: We still don’t have a last name for Josh. I thought for sure we were going to get it this season, but we didn’t get it.

HR: While a lot of time was spent on Younger fans wanting to know if Josh would end up with Liza, he wasn’t solely there as her love interest. What else did you love about him?

NT: Josh being a dad, [his daughter] Gemma. For me, that’s the most important storyline that Josh got, outside of his work and his career and his tattooing and his friendships that he has with the other women on the show. His relationship with Maggie is so beautiful, the arc that created.

Everything else about Josh is actually more interesting to me than the Josh and Liza storyline…I think that Josh, Liza, Charles triangle was a way to pitch the show from the top. It kind of became this iconic staple on the marketing end, but it wasn’t necessarily an iconic staple in the story were were telling. There’s a disconnect there. That’s just kind of the nature of television.

HR: Was there a scene in Younger season 7 that particularly resonated with you, or where it particularly hit you that the show was ending?

NT: That scene was my last day on set and it was with Sutton [Foster]. It was a full 360-degree circle from the day Sutton and I met, to the day that we were saying goodbye to each other. We could barely get a word out. We have experienced so much together as Sutton and Nico, as Josh and Liza. Here we were sharing this moment again. It was just unreal. I’m so grateful for this entire experience.

HR: What did you leave the experience with? Is there anything that you particularly learned from Younger that you’re going to carry with you forward?

NT: To lead with love. I think that that’s really what Josh taught me more than anything, and what this show has taught me. I think what [creator] Darren [Star] has always done such a good job doing, is he’s living in the perpetual optimism, his joy…Politically, socially, we have been through a lot, and we’ve always had Younger to lighten the mood. I think that is an important sentiment to take with you every single day, like find your “younger.” It’s there forever. Whenever you may be having a hard time, there is something that exists that can reframe the situation. We all have access to that. That’s kind of the meaning of life.

This is definitely an ending of an era, but I want people to hold on to hope that these characters aren’t dead. That’s kind of the magic of what we do. These characters live forever and there is always potential for more storylines. Keep your hopes up and keep Younger in your heart. Keep on fighting in this life.

Next. More about Younger with Peter Hermann. dark

Younger is streaming now on Paramount+. Watch the seventh and final season now with a 7-day free trial.

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Younger star Nico Tortorella on saying goodbye to Josh and his final scene

By Brittany Frederick | Jun 11, 2021