She may be best known for originating the role of Cady Heron in Mean Girls on Broadway, but actress Erika Henningsen is about to have a major May. Starring alongside Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Will Forte and Colman Domingo, starting today, Henningsen can be seen in Netflix’s much-anticipated The Four Seasons. The series is an adaptation of Alan Alda’s 1981 romantic comedy of the same name and comes from the team behind shows like 30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Girls5Eva, which also featured Henningsen.
We recently caught up with the multi-hyphenate over Zoom, as she shared her detailed critique of the cleansers that really work after a night working in a “dusty” Broadway basement, as she does double-duty in Just In Time, playing Sandra Dee opposite Jonathan Groff’s Bobby Darin.
The Four Seasons is a big one on the agenda. How are you feeling about that? What are you excited for your fans to see?
Oh my gosh, I’m so excited. I think I’m most excited for people to see this ensemble because the cast is pretty stellar, and you’ve got Colman Domingo,, who I think people think of as a dramatic actor, but he’s so funny in this. Tina, we think of her as the Liz Lemon icon, but she’s pulling off some really beautiful, dramatic work. I’m excited for fans to see me opposite icon Steve Carell! That’s a big one! I just think the show is chock-full of beautiful performances. It’s generational spanning in a way that, hopefully, when you sit down, you’re just going to binge it in one second.
We all look forward to the stream. I hope I don’t speak for everyone, but my life revolves around that Friday-night Netflix release.
Oh my goodness, that’s been my life. Post show, that’s my wind-down time. It’s like…I watch an episode of something, and I’m in. I’m actually watching Your Friends & Neighbors right now because the hair and makeup team for The Four Seasons worked on that. It’s been fun to be like, “Oh my gosh, my hair girly from The Four Seasons did Olivia Munn‘s hair, which looks obviously gorgeous.” I feel like I’m cheering on my friends.
I watched that last night; I’m all caught up and, yes, Olivia’s hair is perfection. You have your Broadway ‘side gig’ and you’re obviously pretty busy. How do you find time for yourself? Is there any time to unwind post-theater?
I really just have to schedule it. I feel like a big thing for me has been learning to take things off my plate by saying yes to less things…I’m not great at that, but I’ve gotten better. During Mean Girls, I was really putting myself through the ringer. I said yes to everything. I was younger, so I had the energy, but I was just…I don’t know…I was eager. I was an eager beaver. I feel like now I’m learning to put some limits on my time.
On the day of opening, I really forced myself to slow down. I literally said, “I’m not going to rush around trying to get gifts for every single person. There’s time to do that. I will write my thank-you notes.” I went and I scheduled myself a facial—and I haven’t done that in two years. It was really nice to just give myself that time. Obviously, skin-wise, it looked great, but just lying down and letting somebody give you this relaxing experience that’s wholly for yourself was a really nice treat.
Good for you. That was my next question: Are there any wellness places you really love in New York, any spas, studios or salons?
Yes. I swear by this Tracie Martyn facial. I love it. I got it on the day I opened Mean Girls, so it’s special to me. I decided to keep up with that tradition and got it the day I opened Just in Time. It’s not invasive. My skin is pretty sensitive. I also swear by some Chiro. I’m usually not into any of that stuff, but if I get weird kinks in my neck, which often happens in Broadway, I have to go. Because you’re doing the same movements over and over.
My wonderful acupuncturist, her name is Sabbath McLean. She works out with something called Silver Spring Wellness. I feel like she’s Broadway’s best-kept secret. Every time you go, you run into somebody in the waiting room who is going to get a treatment. She really, really helped me through Mean Girls because my body wasn’t just whack during that. I’ve gone to her once for a tune-up this year. I feel like she’s just on my speed dial if I’m feeling out of balance.
Tracie Martyn and the co-founder, Marius, are New York skin staples.
I love him so much. He’s so great. He just gave me the enzyme mask, which I’ll do when I come home. Sometimes, I just feel like there’s gunk happening. My face is so gunked right now because I’m doing press, and I’m doing eight shows a week. The makeup I wear in the show is a little bit heavier than what I would wear in my natural life. Doing anything that removes it and feels like it’s purifying is great. Normally, I’m a gentle CeraVe cleanser person—and I still love the brand—but now I feel like I need a little bit more to get out the gunk.
I’m sensitive, too. What are some of your cleansers when you have to take off all the makeup?
I just became obsessed with Farmacy Green Clean ($39). That was recommended to me. Oh, and my dermatologist is also my favorite person ever. Her name’s Dr. Claire Wolinsky. I feel like a lot of people go to her. She actually just helped me out because I had some weird reaction to my wig on my scalp. But I use the Green Clean Farmacy Cleanser a lot. Then, I use something that you can get from StriVectin. It’s in an orange circular case. They’re really gentle exfoliating pads ($45) that I can use every day. Then, when I’m being good, I usually use toner…but I’m being bad right now and I’m forgetting. The other thing that I’m using is this spray from Tower28 ($28). This is my new favorite thing. I couldn’t remember the name of it, so I had to pull it out. This is what they used on me every day of The Four Seasons.
The spray! That’s good.
It’s the best. I’ve just been using this Green Clean and the StriVectin stuff. Then, I use Laneige water-based moisturizer ($38). I’m just trying to put moisture back. Where we do our show has haze, and the theater is old, and so is the basement. There’s just stuff in the air, and I feel like I’m just looking for simple products to bring moisture back into my face.
That makes sense. You grew up in California, you’re in New York, you went to school in Michigan. I’m assuming that involves some travel. Do you have a routine for keeping your energy up?
The routine is always kind of the same. I think when I entered my 30s, I realized like, ‘Oh yes, you really are supposed to wear sunscreen every day.’ My gay best friend, Grey Henson, has shown me all the things that I’m supposed to use. The one thing I travel with everywhere is this sunscreen. It says Bioré UV Aqua Rich ($16). It’s just so good. I bring that with me everywhere. If I’m traveling for work, I try and pare things down.
What I usually bring with me is I bring that sunscreen, the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk ($69), because it just also has more sunscreen in it, and it goes on really smooth. Then Laneige Lip Balm ($19). That’s if I don’t have to be wearing makeup for work, I try not to wear it in [my] normal life. Because A, I don’t know how to do it. [laughs] That’s why I love my lovely makeup artists who do know how to do it. I just want to give my skin a break. I think when you’re on the Broadway schedule, giving your skin a break is the most important thing.
Definitely.
The only other thing I travel with always is also the scent that my gay best friend helped me choose; I finally have a signature scent, and I’m so happy. It’s Fleur de Peau ($240). It’s a Diptyque scent. It’s so good. I have to say, the day I found it, we were in Los Angeles, and it changed everything. He picked it out for me. We walked out of the store, and a girl stopped me on the street and said, “You smell amazing.”
Every time I wear it—I wore it on the first day of rehearsal—Jonathan Groff said the same thing. I swear, this is going to sound terrible, but I think people like you when you smell good. It’s a nice way to break the barrier. When you hug a person, you have a sense memory of a positive smell. I credit Grey Henson for helping me find this Diptyque scent—game-changer!
