Justine

[This story contains MAJOR spoilers from Nobody Wants This season two.]

Justine Lupe returned for Nobody Wants This season two with a love story of her own. But it came with a twist.

The return of the hit Netflix rom-com saw Morgan (Lupe) bringing home her therapist, Dr. Andy (Arian Moayed), and they embark on a whirlwind romance that seems too good to be true — and, by the finale, she learns that it was. Morgan rushing into her new relationship was a reaction to feeling left behind after seeing her sister, Joanne (Kristen Bell), fall in love with Noah (Adam Brody, which creates friction between her and Joanne.

“That’s an intense thing to feel, that the person you love and align with is not in their authentic self,” Lupe tells The Hollywood Reporter.

In the end, Morgan breaks it off at their engagement party. “Doing it at a party is no bueno,” Lupe tells THR. However, she admits that Morgan, “just wants to grab her confidence by the horn and take care of business by breaking up with him.”

Also ending up single at the end of the season is Sasha (Timothy Simons) — and Noah and Joanne, briefly, before they ultimately get back together, like the season one finale — after Esther (Jackie Tohn) has a change of heart and says she needs time to find herself and what she wants. As Sasha and Morgan’s friendship continued to grow throughout this season, the question remains: Will Sasha and Morgan ever date?

Below, Lupe tells THR what’s next for Morgan as she reflects on her growth throughout this season, working with guest star Leighton Meester (who is married to Brody) and unpacks Morgan’s possible romance with Sasha.

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What was your reaction to reading the script and finding out that Morgan was going to have a love interest this season? And then, what was your reaction to finding out that love interest was going to be her therapist?!

Excitement on both counts — glee and a little bit of nervousness about hoping I could do the character justice, and that the writers would not regret that they gave me this much real estate to play with as the character. (Laughs.) But the thing that I felt most was just pure excitement.

Why did it feel important for Morgan to break up with Dr. Andy at the engagement party?

She just was so down to the wire. We’re getting really close to the moment, and, I mean, doing it at a party is no bueno. It’s no good. (Laughs.) It’s painful, and that’s what makes it kind of fun. These people are all very reactive and very impulsive. But in the moment, her mom gives her this strength she didn’t previously have. Her mom is one person most of the time. In his circumstance, she’s so desperate to protect her child from making a mistake that she steps into being a real mama bear and says, “Hey, listen, get your shit together. You don’t want to make this a mistake. This is a big thing that I did, and I don’t want you to do this, too.” It means a lot to Morgan in that moment. Seeing her mom rise into this different version of herself is really impactful, and there’s something incredibly motivating about it, so she just wants to grab her confidence by the horn and take care of business by breaking up with him. That being said, I don’t think that an engagement party is the way to go with a breakup. (Laughs.)

The tension is higher this season between Morgan and Joanne. What’s deep at the heart of their relationship that’s driving this friction?

For Morgan, it’s the threat of losing her relationship with her sister to this new relationship. This whole season for Morgan is a reaction to her sister finding love and her feeling left behind, and her feeling a bit of an identity crisis and going, “What is my life and who am I and where am I going to end up and where’s my husband and where’s my love?” Because of that, she rushes into something that’s not real, not authentic — and Joanne can feel that. That’s an intense thing to feel that the person you love and align with is not being their authentic self, and I think Morgan is fighting so hard to feel OK and Joanne is fighting so hard to prove to Morgan that what she’s doing is not authentic that it creates a lot of tension between them. The whole thing is about caring about each other. Morgan caring about her relationship with Joanne changing, and Joanne caring about Morgan ruining her life because she’s jumping into something that is not gonna be good for her in the end.

Leighton Meester came in as a guest star this season and brought so much fun energy to episode five. How did you, Kristen and Leighton approach those comedic moments together? 

You know, we didn’t talk about them. We all kind of know what that energy is. It was so well written. Leighton had built such a specific and fun character that we were like, “OK, let’s just play the circumstances of what’s going on and who this woman is and how we would honestly react with this kind of energy.” We all love Leighton. She’s so awesome and fun and talented that it was a very easy fit. She just slipped right into the whole thing and it was a blast. We really leaned into what was on the page and what Leighton had created as a character. It was a lot of fun.

Now that you and Sasha are both single, would you want Morgan to explore that relationship romantically?  

I think Morgan knows — and I know — that Sasha is going through something deeply upsetting and deeply life-changing, and that there’s something really substantial to what he’s going through right now. At the end when she says, “Sasha, you’re a good guy.” After, he says, “Hey, if she thinks I’m going to wait around for her, then she’s right.” I think Morgan is earnestly saying you’re a good guy in that moment and their friendship has evolved into something that’s very supportive and platonic. They’re each other’s partners in a specific way that’s not romantic in that moment. So I don’t know where it’s gonna go, but right now he’s got some healing to do and so does Morgan. I don’t have any hopes because I think no matter what happens, it will be fun between them. Instinctively, I’m like, “You guys just support each other as friends because I actually think that you could be very healing presences for each other.”

Do you think, though, that sometimes the best relationships can start from friendships? You guys do have an undeniable chemistry.

Totally. And if it ends up there, I get it and I can see that. But I also think in this moment, she just broke up with someone where she rushed into a chaotic [relationship], she’s clearly not in her right mind in this season. She has soul searching to do and some self-confidence to gain and stabilizing to do as a human. He has to really process what’s just happened with his wife and mother of his child. So I think rushing into a romantic thing…. I mean, this is just my opinion as an audience member. As an actor, I would be thrilled to do anything. Tim is my favorite person. He’s really one of my best friends now, and I would truly love to sit on a block with him and say nothing for like 15 hours in a scene. I’d be happy just to read the phone book with Tim. So whatever happens, I’m down. But as an audience member, I appreciate that they’re in this moment and that it could, down the line, evolve into something else, but right now, they’re just being really good friends to each other.

The ending very much insinuated that Joanne will finally convert, as we see her and Noah get back together. What is your take on the ending and what do you hope to see for their future?

I felt relief. This has been the friction that’s underneath all of the idiosyncrasy. There’s a lot of compromise. A lot of negotiating. There’s a lot of friction between the two of them in these moments post deciding to get into this relationship. That’s really interesting and we all can relate to once you agree to be in a relationship and you’re off the honeymoon high that you’re like, “Oh, and now we have to navigate these little things.” And this is the big underlying question underneath all that: Is this gonna happen? Can we do this? Are you interested in doing this? I just thought it was beautiful.

Jackie Tohn’s monologue as Esther about what Judaism is and what the feeling behind Judaism is and what the essence of what it means to be Jewish, I found it so compelling. I loved that monologue and I loved that there’s a moment that Joanne clicks into understanding that this is something that feels right to her. I felt that she honestly understood, [that] I actually want to do this and I actually want to convert. So, for me, the ending was incredibly satisfying and romantic. It didn’t feel muscled because of the tracks that they laid throughout the season. I was really excited that they both came together at the end.

In addition to Leighton, this season saw some great guest stars, including Seth Rogen. But who are some other dream guest stars you’d like to see in a potential season three? 

Lynn (Stephanie Faracy), my mom’s best friend on the show is named Goldie, and every time they say Goldie, like, “Oh, she’s doing shrooms with Goldie. This is what she does on her birthday.” I think of Goldie Hawn and so, I would just love to have Goldie Hawn on the show. I think she’s brilliant and fun and there’s something about her playing Lynn’s best friend that very much works.

Since the show has filmed, you’ve gotten married and become a parent. Has that changed your perspective on how you view the relationships in the show at all, and in what ways?

No, to be honest, it hasn’t changed. I have an incredible partner who is an incredible person to date. So, if anything, it’s fun to watch this thing that feels very aspirational and inspirational. People are like, “But does it exist?” And to be cheering on the sidelines, “It does exist!” My husband’s taught me a lot about healthy partnership and the ability to support one another and help each other evolve. These are all things that are valuable about the show. This show really explores two fully realized adults trying their best in a non-toxic way to date each other, even with all their flaws. They’re really working on being the best versions of themselves and trying to show up for the relationship. It’s something that I feel like my partner is incredibly good at. I have a lot of girlfriends who are single and they’re in their late 30s and they’re like, “Will I find the person? And are there nice guys out there? Do these people exist that treat each other well?” The thing that my life brings to this whole narrative is me feeling like, “Yeah, there are good guys out there and they can behave nicely and it can go well and it can be smooth.” So, I like that the show has a relationship that’s representative of that.

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Nobody Wants This season two is now streaming all episodes on Netflix. Read THR’s cover story on season two.