Erika Henningsen on Redefining the Stereotypical 'Younger Woman' in 'The Four Seasons'

When you get the call that you’ve landed a role in a Netflix series starring Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Colman Domingo, and Will Forte, it is, understandably, a big life moment. So major, in fact, that when it happened to Erika Henningsen, 32, she ran around a parking lot in Los Angeles, expressing her gratitude over the phone as her husband filmed her shocked reaction. “I kept trying to calm down, but I was screaming on the inside,” she tells L’OFFICIEL, laughing as she sends over the footage as proof.

For Henningsen, taking on the role of bubbly dental hygienist Ginny in The Four Seasons is certainly a career milestone. A theater veteran who originated the role of Cady Heron in Mean Girls on Broadway—and is currently portraying Sandra Dee, opposite Jonathan Groff’s Bobby Darin in Just in Time—the actor has spent more time on a New York City stage than a Hollywood set. So, when it came time to shoot the comedy miniseries, an adaptation of Alan Alda’s 1981 film of the same name, the pressure was on. “Going to set for the first time is so much more intimidating than doing theater,” she says. “You’re in character on day one—there's no warmup. It’s also much more unpredictable because every day is different, whereas in the theater, you get the comfort of routine pretty immediately.”

There was one familiar face on set: Fey. The series’ co-creator first tapped Henningsen for Mean Girls, which she wrote, and later for a recurring role in Peacock’s musical comedy series Girls5Eva, which she executive produced. Naturally, it was Fey’s voice on the other end of that life-changing phone call to Henningsen, telling her that they’d be sharing the screen in The Four Seasons. The series centers on three married couples—Kate and Jack (Fey and Forte), Danny and Claude (Domingo and Marco Calvani), and Nick and Anne (Carell and Kerri Kenney-Silver)—whose lives are thrown into disarray when the last pair abruptly divorces. That’s where Henningsen comes in, portraying the significantly younger girlfriend of Carell’s character, Nick.

In the conversation below, we delve into what she learned from her famous co-stars about connection, the very Gen-Z concept she taught them, and why it was important to play against type by bringing “a sense of depth” to Ginny in The Four Seasons, as well as to Sandra Dee on Broadway.

L’OFFICIEL: It must feel pretty good when Tina Fey repeatedly taps you for roles. Were you flattered that she cast you in this series?

ERIKA HENNINGSEN: So flattered, and I still am. I can't quite comprehend anytime I'm in the same sphere as her. She's so down-to-earth and has brought me up alongside her. Hearing that, she would be like, Girl, no, you deserve to be here. I’ve worked with her as a writer, a fellow actor, and an executive producer, and I’ve had the chance to hang out with her and her family. She is so good in every capacity. 

L’O: Throughout the episodes, there’s much discussion about the age gap between your character, Ginny, and Steve Carell’s, Nick. Off-camera, what was it like to be roughly two decades younger than your co-stars?

EH: Being on set was such a fun hang. The best thing about working with this cast—and people who were a bit older than me—was seeing that there is a way to be successful and renowned in this field, while remaining true to your roots and how you want to live your life. Tina is such a great example of that, and so is Steve. But they're also so vibrant and fun. They're younger than my parents' generation, by about 15 years. And they really just like to laugh.

L’O: Were there any moments that you really felt the millennial to Gen X generational divide? 

EH: It’s funny, we were at dinner in Puerto Rico, talking about this study that revealed that Gen Z is partying less. I'm a millennial, but I have Gen Z friends. I told them, There's actually this thing that Gen Z-ers do called ‘floating,’ which is like their version of going to a club. And Colman goes, What the hell is that? I explained that it's when you show up to a place, put on noise-canceling headphones with a playlist, and run around to city landmarks, stopping to dance at each one as the music changes. Their faces were amazing. Steve couldn’t get over the word “landmark.” He was like, I can’t imagine calling up my friends and being like,‘You want to go dance in front of some landmarks?’ Hearing their reactions was a reminder that floating is basically a lack of communication and dialogue. Their generation is much more eager to just spend time together and share stories, and I love that.

L’O: It sounds like you bonded offscreen, but it’s not as easy for your character in the show. How did it feel to play the young new girlfriend who’s trying to infiltrate this tight-knit friend group?

EH: Tina had said, The goal is not for you to be sort of this James Bond, Instagram-filtered other woman. If she is, then first of all, we're going to hate Steve's character, Nick. But also, it will be so easy for the audience to hate you. We want people to feel conflicted and feel love towards Ginny, Anne [Kenney-Silver], and Nick. They’re all just trying to live their truths, and those happen to be in conflict with one another. Ginny is such an effervescent character, but sometimes she's the adult in the room who tells these people what their coping patterns are. There's this scene where she kind of blows up at the friends—she is bereft and emotional and sort of frantic. I wanted it to feel like she was a very stern adult, talking to a bunch of kids. 

L’O: Do you relate to Ginny at all?

EH: I do, because when I’m in a new group of people, I desperately want to know that they're having a good time. I can’t relax when I plan a vacation, either. When we meet Ginny in the summer, she's taken the group of friends to this eco resort—which, maybe, was a miss on her end—but she has the EQ to say, “Oh, shoot, maybe I did this wrong.” That’s where we start to realize this is not some young, dumb girl. She is empathetic and aware. Also, she's not a victim. There's a scene where Nick and Anne's daughter kind of comes for Ginny, and I thought how, if an 18-year-old girl made me feel bad about myself as a 32-year-old woman, I would be mortified to cry or make it about me. I'd remove myself from the situation, but I wouldn't be dramatic. That was a big crux of the character—that she could feel hurt by people's actions, but she couldn't be the young girlfriend crying in the corner. She needed the strength to walk into really uncomfortable situations, over and over again.

L’O: The show explores the evolution of both romantic and platonic relationships throughout different seasons of life. What messages did you take from the story?

EH: As an actor who moved away from her family, I took away the message that my chosen family is just as important. Friends remind you who you are—and they're able to do so because they're not waking up next to you every day. They have the distance to say, You've crossed a line here, in a way that cuts right to your core; it could feel loaded or like an attack if your spouse said it. The marriages are portrayed in all sorts of seasons, but I think the sneaky surprise is those friendships. When I got married two years ago [to former Mean Girls co-star Kyle Selig], we were debating whether or not we wanted a big wedding. We realized that the purpose of having somebody bear witness to that moment is so that when that promise is inevitably called into question at a difficult impasse, the friends who were there can help shepherd us through. Seeing that in the show is beautiful and surprising.

L’O: Towards the end of the series, there are two major twists. We won’t spoil them here, but one is a complete departure from the original film, and the other is handled quite differently and packs a bigger punch. What did you make of the changes, on the whole?

EH: When I read the script with those twists at the end of episodes seven and eight, I gasped. But I think they did some things really beautifully in adapting this. In the movie, I think it's a little easier to understand why Nick makes the call [to leave Anne]. Tina wanted to make it less black and white, so Anne became a really vibrant, interesting character. Also, Ginny going on vacation with these five people every time could get old. It was cool that they flipped it and had Nick go on vacation with her friends in episode seven. We all had the best time on set that day—in one scene, Steve has to tell a story to this group of millennials, and it just falls flat. To me, it felt like the moment when I was telling him about floating. There’s just a blank stare.

L’O: You’re no stranger to working with a great ensemble, and you’re currently starring in Broadway’s jukebox musical Just in Time, playing Sandra Dee opposite Jonathan Groff’s Tony Award-nominated role as Bobby Darin. What drew you to the production?

EH: The people. The more I get to do in this field, the more I realize that you cannot control what the audience is going to think about the product—but you can control your experience making it. Something like The Four Seasons was a no-brainer, but Just in Time actually wasn't a no-brainer. I had no real urge to come back to Broadway and a jukebox musical wasn't really on my bucket list. But [director] Alex Timbers and [co-stars] Jonathan Groff and Gracie Lawrence were people I've wanted to work with forever. I thought, People may not love this show, but I'll have a good time doing it. Now that the show is, like, this sleeper hit, I feel like I just lucked out.

L’O: Was there anything you really wanted to get right in portraying Sandra Dee?

EH: There’s a theme that runs through both Ginny and Sandra Dee, which is that these girls are blonde-haired and doe-eyed. I wanted to make sure they had a backbone and emotional intelligence, rendering them more than a stereotype. Just in Time is a show about Bobby Darin; Sandra pops in, but we have to give people a sense of her depth in a short amount of time. This girl was young and people thought of her as this sweet, nubile, virginal thing, but she had wit and sass, and she was a professional. She was carrying movies when she was 18 years old, and you can't do that if you aren't smart or don't have an awareness of how to work a room. I wanted her to feel like an equal to Bobby Darin. He was the man she married; she could not just be this young little thing he took under his arm. It was important to me to get that right, and I do feel like I get to go toe-to-toe with Jonathan Graff and be his sparring partner, instead of just his young, beautiful wife. 

L’O: Obviously, between The Four Seasons and Just in Time, you’ve been able to flex very different acting muscles recently. What’s your ultimate dream role?

EH: I had a guttural response when I saw Challengers—and not for the reason you might think, although it was very sexy and fun. But I was so jealous knowing that those actors got to go to tennis camp to prep for their roles. I grew up in Northern California and I like being active. Seeing Sydney Sweeney do wrestling training for her new movie [about boxer Christy Martin], and Daisy Ridley swimming for her role as [Gertrude Ederle in Young Woman and the Sea], I realized that all I want to do is be hired for something where I get to learn a sport. I don't want to do something where I have to become emaciated like Patrick Bateman [in American Psycho], or anything like that. I just want to become an athlete for a movie. That is my goal.