Why Morgan From Nobody Wants This Looks So Familiar

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When Netflix comedy "Nobody Wants This" made its debut in 2024, the show proved to be in instant hit, quickly taking the streamer's top spot as its most-watched show. When the series returned with its second season, so too did the show's fans, eager to catch up on the opposites-attract rom-com about a neurotic LA podcaster named Joanne (former "Veronica Mars" and "The Good Place" star Kristen Bell) who falls for Noah, a handsome rabbi (Adam Brody, who's come a long way since his days on "The O.C.") — even though the former is decidedly not Jewish.

Joanne's podcasting partner and constant sounding board is her "loser" sister, Morgan, portrayed by actor Justine Lupe. Of course, "Nobody Wants This" is far from Lupe's first big acting role; sharp-eyed TV viewers will recall that she'd previously appeared on not one but two of the most critically acclaimed TV series in recent years. In fact, no less an authority than Rolling Stone recently proclaimed her to be "TV's secret weapon" in a profile about her scene-stealing performance in the Netflix hit. As Lupe told the magazine, she's thankful that her success has been a slow build that's come after years of hard work. "It's been this huge gift to be able to come into my mid-thirties ..." she explained. "I'm feeling like I'm ready for it. At the same time, completely terrified and anxious. But knowing, deep down, that this is the time." Lupe has been a fixture on television screens since the early 2010s, and the recent attention she's been receiving is certain to send her career continuing on its upward trajectory.

Ever since she was little, Justine Lupe aspired to become an actor. When she was just 11, she successfully auditioned for a spot at the Denver School of Arts. She attended the school until age 18, majoring in drama. "I was completely obsessed with [acting] as a kid," she told Boulder Weekly. "I wasn't really good at much else."

Having seen a PBS documentary on New York City's acclaimed Juilliard School — alma mater of stars such as Robin Williams, Christopher Reeve, Jessica Chastain, and many others — she became laser-focused on attending. "As I got older, I realized there was nowhere else I wanted to go," she said. She was accepted to Juilliard, eventually graduating in 2011. She'd studied theater, but once she began booking TV roles, she quickly came to the realization that she preferred acting in front of a camera to performing onstage for a live audience. "I felt more honest," she told The Wall Street Journal of coming to that epiphany. "On stage, whenever I'd project my voice, I sensed the honesty draining out of my performance. I became too aware of myself."

It's fair to say that Justine Lupe's career didn't exactly explode once she made it to Los Angeles. She only had two screen credits under her belt at that point, guest spots on TV series such as "Unforgettable" and "Southland." While those roles may have been minor, they paved the way for more, including a small role in "Not Fade Away," a feature film directed David Chase, creator of TV masterpiece "The Sopranos." She also appeared in director Noah Baumbach's "Frances Ha," starring Greta Gerwig, whose Hollywood evolution would lead her to become director of blockbuster comedy "Barbie."

"I don't think I realized what a big deal it was at the time, to be involved in two of the best directors of all time's films," Lupe later mused in a 2025 interview with Rolling Stone. "It's just bonkers. It was quite a running start." Other screen credits in the early part of her Hollywood career included TV series "Royal Pains," "Ex-Girlfriends," and "Shameless." 

Reflecting on her career, Lupe recalled those early days of one-off guest spots, small roles that attracted little attention but served as the building blocks of what was to come. "But I have always played these characters that pop in and out," she said. "They're the fly on the wall in a lot of cases."

In retrospect, Justin Lupe landing a role on TV legal drama "Harry's Law" back in 2012 was her first big break. That series starred Oscar-winning actor Kathy Bates.

Lupe was cast as young lawyer Phoebe Blake, a grueling process that required four auditions with the series' creator, TV auteur David E. Kelley. Originally hired for a three-episode stint, her work on the show was so impressive she was subsequently bumped up from guest star to series regular. "Every now and then I clock into the fact that I'm acting with Kathy Bates!" Lupe marveled at the time when interviewed by The Denver Post, and credited winning the role to the help she received from her father. "He drilled lines for this audition with me every step of the way, and is still on the phone with me every night helping me prep," she added.

Years later, Lupe shared an embarrassing anecdote about her time on "Harry's Law," revealing that she accidentally pooped herself on the set. As she recalled on "The Drew Barrymore Show" in 2024, she was taking a bathroom break in her trailer when she was interrupted by a knock on the door. "And I, like, startled, and I like, lifted up my dress, and then I put it on, and then I realized there was a little piece that had fallen into my dress." Lupe was slightly less demure when interviewed by Entertainment Weekly and recalled "s****ing my pants on set."

While "Harry's Law" wound up being unceremoniously canceled after just two seasons, Justine Lupe didn't stay unemployed for long. Further Hollywood success arrived in 2014 when she was cast as a series regular on "Cristela," an ABC sitcom built around standup comic Cristela Alonzo. Alonzo starred as a Latina woman named Cristela who was in the process of completing her law degree, with Lupe portraying Maddie, a dippy intern (and daughter of the boss) in the law firm where Cristela worked.

While the series didn't stand the test of time — it was canceled after just one season — the experience of portraying the same character over the course of 21 episodes was a seminal one for Lupe. Being one element in a larger whole led her to understand the importance of teamwork, imbuing her with the attitude that would pave the road to her later success. "With every part I play, I love being a function in someone else's vision. That's what turns me on," she said in an interview with Boulder Weekly. "It's less about what I want to achieve personally and more about seeing the idea and story come to life."

In 2015, Justine Lupe guest-starred in an episode of "The Good Wife," the critically acclaimed drama starring former "ER" cast member Julianna Margulies. The following year, Lupe was cast as Capt. Ronnie Baker in TV drama "Madam Secretary." The series focused on America's fictional Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord, portrayed by Téa Leoni. Lupe's character was introduced in the third-season episode "South China Sea," with Ronnie a key member of the U.S. government's cyber security team. Lupe returned as Ronnie later that season, appearing in a total of four episodes during the third season. Ronnie was brought back for two more episodes during the series' fourth season, with the character's final appearance taking place in the 2018 episode "The Friendship Game." 

In 2016, the same year she first appeared in "Madam Secretary," Lupe was also cast in a recurring role as fashion blogger Jade Winslow in "Younger." A year later, Lupe landed a recurring role in "Snowfall," a gritty FX drama chronicling the rise of crack as a street drug in the early 1980s. She appeared in five episodes as a character named Victoria Grelli, who travels to Los Angeles to track down her missing sister. That quest does not end well, and Victoria ultimately meets a gruesome fate. That year, Lupe also booked a one-off guest-starring role as CEO Ginny Bretton in legal drama "Bull." In 2018, the actor had also been cast in Prime Video drama "Sneaky Pete," in a recurring role. The part was not a big one, however, and she only appeared in three episodes of the series.

Justine Lupe was tapped for her first starring role in 2017 — in a TV adaptation of a Stephen King novel, no less. That book was "Mr. Mercedes," in which retired police detective Bill Hodges finds himself targeted and taunted by a deranged serial killer. In the series, Bill is portrayed by Irish actor Brendan Gleeson, who went on to win an Oscar nomination for his performance in the film "The Banshees of Inisherin." Lupe portrayed Holly Gibney, a young woman on the autism spectrum, who's also been diagnosed with OCD, agoraphobia, and other psychological maladies. She also has amazing powers of recall, a heightened power of observation, and excellent computer skills, which makes her an important resource for Bill. 

Ultimately, Lupe played Holly for three seasons of "Mr. Mercedes," and came to appreciate the nuanced idiosyncrasies of the character. "I love her so much," Lupe said of Holly during an interview with Showbiz Junkies. "I feel like playing with that character has been an inspiring influence to have as me, as a person. She's so special and thoughtful and uninhibited. She has her quirks and stuff, but that's what makes her awesome."

As it turned out, Lupe's association with the character did not end when "Mr. Mercedes" completed its run in 2019. In 2023, she reprised the role for an audiobook of King's novel, "Holly."

For most viewers of "Nobody Wants This," if they recognize Justine Lupe from one of her previous TV shows, it's very likely to be "Succession." Nominated for a staggering 75 Emmy Awards, and winning 19, "Succession" told the story of the ridiculously wealthy Roy siblings as they jockeyed for position as their elderly media mogul father prepared to hand over the keys to his vast empire before drawing his final breath. Lupe initially appeared on the show in a recurring basis as escort-turned-aspiring playwright Willa Ferreyra, girlfriend (and, eventually, wife) of eldest sibling Connor Roy, starting in 2018. She was later bumped up to series regular in 2020, and remained with the show until its conclusion in 2023. 

As Lupe explained in a 2023 interview with Harper's Bazaar, her character evolved considerably over the course of the series, from apparent gold-digger to a true partner with legitimate feelings for the hapless Connor, whose grandiose ambitions to be America's next president far outstripped his abilities and intellect — to say nothing of his dismal polling numbers. "There's a lot more tenderness and protectiveness and territorial, 'mama bear' instinct that I didn't know was in her in the beginning," Lupe said of Willa's development.

Interviewed by GoldDerby, Lupe admitted that much of the enjoyment she derived from playing Willa came from the fact that the character was so different from her actual personality. "She's existing in this shark pool with all these kind of biting, vicious humans and she's kind of moves through it a little bit unscathed because she just doesn't care," Lupe said, adding that she found the role "really fun to play because that's just not who I am as a person."

In the midst of the four seasons that Justine Lupe appeared on "Succession," she also had a recurring role on another acclaimed TV series, Prime Video comedy "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." Lupe portrayed Astrid Weissman, first appearing as the shiksa sister-in-law of Rachel Brosnahan's Midge Maisel during the series' debut season in 2017. While it wasn't a major role, Lupe managed to make her sporadic appearances on the show memorable.

When interviewed for the Independent, Lupe observed that Astrid — a gentile who converted to Judaism in order to marry Midge's brother, Noah — is, from a cultural perspective, at least, a bit of an outlier in the Maisel family, desperate in her awkward attempts to fit in. That, she explained, placed Astrid in a very similar position as Willa in "Succession." "They're both outsiders," Lupe said. "Willa is very much like, 'I'm here, whether you want me or not,' whereas Astrid is just pounding on the door, doing everything that she can to prove herself and her commitment."

That didn't always work out the way Astrid had hoped, which was certainly the case in one of the character's most memorable scenes, involving the bris of her newborn son. As fans will recall, Astrid confused the rabbi when she revealed her son's name to be Chaim Christian. "It's unusual — the combination," the rabbi observed, with Astrid explaining the baby's names are taken from those of her grandfather (Christian) and her husband's grandfather (Chaim). "She really named the child Chaim Christian?" Astrid's father-in-law, Abe (Tony Shalhoub), asked Midge. "She really did," Midge replied.

In addition to her work as an actor, Justine Lupe is also a writer, producer, and director — and served in all four roles in "The Non-Essentials," an idiosyncratic comedy series that aired on Adult Swim in 2020. While the series on Adult Swim are usually animated, "The Non-Essentials" was a live-action show comprising short episodes, each lasting just a few minutes. Lupe played a woman named Jessy, who is in a relationship with a dude named Max (played by Josh Duvendeck, who created the show alongside Lupe, her brother, Colin Lupe, and Briana Pozner).

The brief episodes are almost Dada-esque in their absurdity. For example, one finds Max questioning his manliness after discovering some critical notes that Jessy has written about him in the margins of a book, while another focuses on Jessy returning from a run, only to find Max pleasuring himself while watching a documentary about mushrooms.

Lupe enlisted her father, John Lupe, to appear in a couple of the episodes, playing Jessy's dad. In one of these, he's discovered the wonderful world of social media, which leads her to film him for a TikTok parody of a song from the musical "Hamilton."

After "Succession" ended in 2023, Justine Lupe appeared in the "The Big Door Prize," an Apple TV comedy series about a mysterious, magical machine that suddenly appears in a small town, offering life-changing advice to residents. Lupe joined the series in a recurring capacity during its second season in 2024, playing Alice Wickstead, a former concert cellist who's now a high school music teacher, who becomes a love interest for married protagonist Dusty (Chris O'Dowd).

Interestingly, that storyline mirrored what Lupe had been going through in her own personal life after a long-term relationship ended, and she found herself re-entering the world of dating after finding herself suddenly single in her 30s. "Walking into dating at 33 is a very different thing to dating at 27," she observed in an interview with the Independent. "It's a different set of thoughts completely. The way that you handle the world, the way you think about what you want and what you care about — it all changed so vastly during that time."

Viewers who watched the debut season of "Nobody Wants This" had no idea that Justine Lupe was pregnant the whole time — even though her character was not. Lupe — who welcomed her first child prior to the first season's premiere — shared the revelation that she'd become one of the actresses who had to hide their pregnancy for a role in a September 2024 Instagram post, after the first season had dropped.

"This show carried me through my first 5+ months of pregnancy with so much warmth," Lupe wrote. As she explained, she'd initially kept her condition a secret from both her co-stars and members of the crew — until an on-set wardrobe malfunction gave away the game. According to Lupe, her pregnancy was revealed accidentally, when, "My Gucci skirt ripped open in both the front and backsides on set at 2am when they had no idea I was pregnant and thought I was just rapidly falling apart." 

When she appeared as a guest on "The Drew Barrymore Show" in November 2024, Lupe told viewers that her baby daughter had been born just three months earlier. She also revealed — for the first time, as actor-turned-daytime talk show host Drew Barrymore pointed out — that her daughter's name was Ellis. A few months later, in February 2025 she married Tyson Mason, with their low-key nuptials taking place in a Beverly Hills courthouse.