‘Leanne’ Stars Leanne Morgan and Kristen Johnston Share The Advice They’d Give To Young Women: “Who Cares About Instagram? You’re Gorgeous, Just Enjoy It”

Leanne Morgan and Kristen Johnston have seen a lot in their lives. From death and new life to relationships and breakups, the comedian and the actress have been through it all.

Luckily for them, their new Chuck Lorre-produced series, Leanne, allows them to experience all of those things and bring to life a sister dynamic that feels both real and aspirational. It’s as much about enjoying this phase of their life as it is about showing other women, regardless of their age, that life will be a lot of things, but boring is not one of them.

The show follows Morgan’s eponymous character, whose “life takes an unexpected turn when her husband of 33 years leaves her for another woman,” according to a Netflix description. With the help of her sister, parents, and children, she will “navigate this new chapter with grace, dignity and jello salad.”

Chatting with DECIDER ahead of Season 1’s release on July 31, the stars of the series — which explores themes of mistakes and the hard lessons learned from them — shared their own advice for young women who tune in to Leanne to live, laugh, and yes, love.

“All these young girls — I wish I could go back and live this — but all this stuff we put on ourselves, that we’re not thin enough or we’re not smart enough or we’re not… It’s all not true,” Morgan said, adding that she wishes women would just “enjoy it.”

For her own part, Johnston echoed her on-screen sister’s sentiments and referenced one particular scene from the show where Carol (Johnston) and Leanne (Morgan) are reminiscing on their own youth, where they found everything wrong with how they looked.

“It’s that scene in the show where Carol talks to Leanne and she goes, ‘Our hair was too high, our boobs were too small, and we were gorgeous,’” added Johnston. “And that’s what I want to say to them, like, ‘Who cares about Instagram? Seriously? You’re gorgeous, just enjoy it.’”

To find out what they think the show gets right about sisterhood, how they really feel about each other, and how they’re preparing to become memes, check out DECIDER’s full interview with Johnston and Morgan below.

DECIDER: I have to say, as someone who has six sisters, this really gets me. I love the sisterhood theme. What do you think this show really gets right about sisterhood?

LEANNE MORGAN: The fighting. You love harder, you fight harder.

KRISTEN JOHNSTON: And the stuff, the weird moments where old stuff comes up like you’re just talking about something else, and then it’s like, “Wait, when we were in high school…” You know, it’s just old stuff and how angry you get in that split second.

MORGAN: But you know your sister’s always got you.

JOHNSTON: Oh yeah, through it all, you’ll take to the bed with each other.

It’s so funny the timeliness of this, because my sister just moved out here last weekend, and we were watching. For me, it’s the moments of like, “Oh my God, you’re my best friend, but then also you’re my worst enemy,” it really comes through.

JOHNSTON: Yay, good.

Now, having worked together for 16 episodes, what would be your favorite part of having the woman next to you as your sister?

MORGAN: You tend to me. You really make sure that I’m okay. She made sure I had food every day that I needed that wouldn’t cause gas and bloating.

JOHNSTON: [LAUGHS].

MORGAN: You would make sure — [she’s] a gift giver and would make sure that I had little things from California to take back with me from our time. I love you.

JOHNSTON: I love you, oh my gosh.

Kristen, what about for you?

JOHNSTON: I mean, it’s just the connection that we had — like chemistry as people and as actors, as performers together. To me, it just felt so loving. I don’t know, it just felt like everything that we feel for each other, I think you see on screen.

I think this show has some of the best sense of identity. There’s themes of faith, family, and fun. If you had to suggest a fourth “F” to describe Leanne, what would it be?

JOHNSTON: Flawed.

MORGAN: Flawed, that’s a good one.

I thought maybe forgiveness, how do we feel about that?

MORGAN: Forgiveness, too, my darling. Forgiveness too. And I wanted that to come across.

JOHNSTON: Hopefully, we’ll just be all the Fs you can think of in one show.

Well, I have only seen eight of the 16 episodes; there’s so much ahead. What can you share about the second half of the season?

MORGAN: Leanne’s got a lot going on, and she’s learning a lot about herself. [Points to Johnston] You’re learning, your characters learning a lot about herself.

JOHNSTON: I think, as the show goes on, it’s the writers getting to know you as performers and what really works chemistry-wise. And I think the second half, I mean, I love the first eight, but the second half of the season for me just started to fly. I think that’s when the show really takes off.

Whether it’s Leanne’s punch or her rifle, I’m predicting a slew of memes to come out of this show. Kristen, you’ve been memed a few times, like in Sex and the City.

JOHNSTON: That’s true.

Have you prepared this woman right here for what it’s like to have that honor?

JOHNSTON: There is no greater compliment than being a meme.

MORGAN: I want to be a meme.

JOHNSTON: Yeah, you want to be a meme. Some actors pooh-pooh it, we will not be that. I will embrace my meme-etry.

Are there any moments that stick out from Leanne that you want to see become one?

MORGAN: It’s going to have to be us in the bed. Or hot flashes.

JOHNSTON: Menopausal related memes.

Leanne, I know the show is ever-so-loosely related on your own life and experiences as a funny woman in the South. Your kids in the show are messy and funny in their own way — how much of their loose interpretation is real?

MORGAN: I think these children in the show were very different from my real children, but the nurturing part and the closeness was there that I really have with my children. Like, I want my children around me and I wish they’d all moved back in with me, but they don’t want to. But the closeness of family, my parents, my kids — and my kids are very close to their grandparents — I think all that was there and very natural. But my kids are not like these kids. Yeah, and that’s probably the best thing.

I’ll wrap here, so much of this show is about learning hard lessons. Is there some advice or guidance you would give someone like me, in their twenties, so they don’t make a mistake you may have made?

MORGAN: All these young girls — I wish I could go back and live this — but all this stuff we put on ourselves, that we’re not thin enough or we’re not smart enough or we’re not… It’s all not true.

JOHNSTON: It’s that scene in the show where Carol talks to Leanne and she goes, “Our hair was too high, our boobs were too small, and we were gorgeous.” And that’s what I want to say to them, like, “Who cares about Instagram? Seriously? You’re gorgeous. Just enjoy it.”

MORGAN: Enjoy it.

JOHNSTON: Also, I would say “Girls, no is a complete sentence.”

Amen.

Leanne Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.