Erika Henningsen Reveals the Lesson She Learned from Her “Four Seasons” Character 'If I Become a Mom' (Exclusive)
Erika Henningsen Reveals the Lesson She Learned from Her “Four Seasons” Character 'If I Become a Mom' (Exclusive)
Brenton BlanchetSat, June 6, 2026 at 12:00 PM UTC
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Erika Henningsen as Ginny in 'The Four Seasons'Credit: Courtesy of Netflix -
Erika Henningsen is breaking down Ginny's journey in season 2 of Netflix's The Four Seasons
The actress tells PEOPLE that she related to her character's initial need to "look to other people to affirm that I'm doing it right"
The Four Seasons is now streaming on Netflix
Erika Henningsen is marking a new season for Ginny.
The Four Seasons star, 33, caught up with PEOPLE about the second season of the Netflix comedy and reprising her role as Ginny, the grieving new mom who grapples with complicated friendship dynamics and accepting change after the death of her boyfriend Nick (Steve Carell).
Season 2 follows Ginny both during her pregnancy and later embracing motherhood after welcoming her and Nick's son, Gino (formerly Cove). While she initially leans heavily on Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver) to keep her on track as a new mom, Ginny eventually comes to terms with the fact that she can raise her newborn herself.
"Similar to Ginny, I always look to other people to affirm that I'm doing it right," Henningsen says of her character. "It's really hard for me to trust my own instinct, be it as an actor, I constantly text [costar] Marco [Calvani] after a take and write, 'Oh, do you think that was good?' So I'm very much an outside seeker of affirmation."
Kerri Kenney-Silver and Erika Henningsen in 'The Four Seasons'Credit: Emily V. Aragones/Netflix
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One scene in particular really helped Henningsen connect with the character, she says, pointing to a moment when Ginny takes baby Gino to the ocean and reminds him that she's his mom. "Sometimes you can not know what you're doing and keep walking forward, and you don't have to keep looking to the left and right for other people to affirm that it's going well," Henningsen says. "If I become a mom, I hope I can take that lesson."
She adds, "But I think that lesson is applicable to anything you are trying to create and bring into the world."
Henningsen stars in The Four Seasons alongside Calvani, Kenney-Silver, Tina Fey, Will Forte and Colman Domingo, with Carell making a second-season appearance in a flashback episode. While Carell's appearance in the latest iteration of The Four Seasons only takes place in flashback form, Forte — who also spoke with PEOPLE about season 2 — says his return to set was "pure joy." "It wasn't until I saw the episode that I was really kind of experienced that emotion, because he still feels present in our lives because, yeah, he's still around," Forte says. "But, God, the way they throw to that episode, to that flashback episode is so well done and so like, 'Wait, what the heck is going on here?'"
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He adds, "And then the very end of the next episode, after you've seen the flashback and you're back there in the house alone, oh, that was crushing."
As Henningsen notes, her "favorite things about coming back" this season was spending some more time with the ensemble cast. "We love our jobs, we love these scripts. It is a joy to bring these characters to life. It is equally fun for when they call cut and we get to just goof around before the next setup," Henningsen says.
Season 2, which follows the friend group after Nick's shocking first-season death, doesn't just explore the immediate aftermath of the loss. It also focuses on the characters as they rebuild and "really decide to do something" with their lives moving forward, Henningsen explains.
"They take these massive swings because that's what happens when somebody passes away. And it was so fun to watch this cast and how the characters deepened when they make those choices," Henningsen says. "That was just so thrilling to watch what it's like when Claude goes to Italy, to watch what Anne 2.0 is. It was one of my favorite things, getting to be with this cast, but to also watch everybody take their characters to the next level, because that's what was being asked of us."
Cast of Netflix's 'The Four Seasons' season 2Credit: Emily V. Aragones/Netflix
Henningsen reflected on the new season in an Instagram post on Tuesday, June 2, thanking "all the brave moms and dads who let me hold their babies," as well as the show's "incredible wardrobe team for giving me lactation-worthy fake🍈🍈, our PAs who are the most fun/patient and kept track of us while we ran around the Jersey Shore boardwalk, and our superstar directors/EPs Jeff Richmond and Tracey Wigfield."
"Oh, and thanks to that one prop baby delivered to me in a plastic bag. You'd CLEARLY been through it," she joked.
The Four Seasons is now streaming on Netflix.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
