Younger season 7 premieres on April 15 on Stan and no one is sadder about the show coming to end than the cast themselves. For Molly Bernard, 33, who plays the fearless Lauren Heller on the hit TV series, the last days of filming were devastatingly hard.
“I’m sad to say goodbye to my character and devastated to say goodbye to my castmates,” Bernard told The Latch in an interview for the series’ final season.
“You know, our directors, our showrunners, the crew, we have a very tight happy little ship over there and in the last days of wrapping up, it was sad to see them taking down bits of the set as we were filming in other locations. I was like, ‘you’re ripping my heart out!'”
Bernard’s character has seen some incredible character development over the years, but at her core has remained the same brazen and bold personality we met in season one. Of course, one of her many attributes has been her incredible understanding of self and her sexuality, something that Bernard says has been a “privilege” to play.
“It has been one of the greatest privileges of my career,” Bernard said. “I think the kind of representation that Lauren is, specifically as a queer person, is crucial. She is a non-traumatised, self-loving pansexual and you know what? It’s much like my sexuality, it’s the least interesting thing about her.”
Bernard applauded the writers for the way they had portrayed her character and how ahead of “the curve” they were, particularly in the earlier seasons.
“They just gave her ‘queer love’. The way they just showed her love by never tokenising her. She’s not like the gay best friend. She’s not a dike. She’s just a pansexual — she’s fluid, she’ll sleep with anything that moves.
“Earlier on, I think it’s in season one or in season two, Lauren’s parents [played by Kathy Najimy and Joshua Pais] they just off-handed and off-the-cuff mentioned Lauren’s pansexuality and they just love and accept her unconditionally. She hasn’t had a painful story of her sexuality.”
Playing Lauren has taught Bernard a lot and as much as we’d love to think she is exactly the character she plays, the actor says they’re not as similar as people would think.
“I wish I had a tenth of Lauren’s confidence and self-assuredness,” she said. “It’s been amazing to play her because I think maybe I’ve caught a little bit of it. We’re very different. I’m a pretty nervous, neurotic, anxiety-ridden little ball of fire and Lauren is a ball of fire, so I think that’s where we overlap.”
If you’ve been watching the show from the very beginning, the underlying theme has always been: Are you, ‘Team Josh’ or ‘Team Charles’? While we all have our own opinions, the cast themselves have very “different answers”.
“Mine is probably the most boring but I’m going to share with you anyway. I fluctuate from season to season. I’ve never been a die-hard ‘Team Charles’ or ‘Team Josh’. Sometimes I go, in previous years, I’m ‘Team Liza’ because I am, but what I will say and tease is the way that the writers end this series, I am team that.
“It’s so good and fans are going to have their heart broken and then have their heart burst open with joy. It’s such a sweet, perfect ending and I really can’t wait for you guys to see it.”
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