Sutton Foster and Darren Star on the Legacy of ‘Younger’

Younger is the little show that could. The comedy, about a 40-year-old divorcee who lies about her age to get a job in publishing, premiered in 2015 on a smaller cable network (TV Land) just as streaming became the bingeable norm. But the series managed to find its audience and stay afloat for six successful seasons—in part thanks to the show’s appeal across age lines. Younger’s depictions of motherhood, feminism, workplace politics, ageism, and love were always emotionally honest, painfully raw, and supremely empowering. 

Season six saw the show’s highest-rated premiere ever, a testament to viewers’ loyalty to Younger. But when season seven airs on April 15 on Paramount Plus, it will be the series’ last. It picks up with the steepest of cliffhangers: Following Charles’s (Peter Hermann’s) proposal, which path will Liza (Sutton Foster) choose?

Yes, six years and seven seasons in, Younger’s central love triangle—between Liza (a 40-something who at first pretended to be 26 to reinvent herself), Josh (the hunky, lovestruck tattoo artist played by Nico Tortorella), and Charles (top publisher at Liza’s company)—has kept fans invested in a way most shows cannot. For Star, that’s the heart of the show and speaks to its larger message. 

“Whether or not Liza’s with Charles or Josh romantically or the other, she still has an emotional bond to both,” Star tells Glamour. “I think that’s very much what the series is about: not defining relationships, and not defining your life by a preconceived set of rules.” 

Now that her age-old (pun intended) secret is out, Liza is able to navigate her life in a truly authentic way. But as fans have come to expect, love will not come easy: Tumbling twists and turns are thrown into the final season almost immediately. Star confirms, however, that each storyline culminates with a very satisfying conclusion by the finale in June. “That, to me, is always the toughest part of how to end a series,” he adds. 

Star attributes much of the show’s success to Foster who, on screen and behind, has helped create a welcoming, thoughtful environment. “Sutton went above and beyond in terms of how she inhabited this role, and took it further than I could have ever hoped and dreamed,” Star says. “She makes everything look effortless.”