Jenn Lyon on Mental Health, the Power of a Salty Attitude, and the Final Season of Claws

A versatile and award-winning actress, Jenn Lyon first burst onto the scene as a theater performer who appeared in a number of high-profile Broadway and off-Broadway productions. She went on to appear opposite Timothy Olyphant in the hit FX television series Justified and star with George Lopez and Danny Trejo in the sitcom Saint George. On the big screen, she appeared in the Ethan Hawke directed Sundance film Blaze and worked with Al Pacino and Helen Mirren in the Hollywood biopic Phil Spector.

Most recently, Jenn Lyon has garnered considerable attention as Jennifer in TNT’s hit series Claws. We sat down with Jenn Lyon to discuss her professional past, her commitment to giving back, and her feelings about the final season of Claws.

What would you say is the perfect summary of yourself? My friends would probably define me by my salty sense of humor. What if I was, like, an omniscient narrator who was describing me? I’d probably say, “She was a 7-layer salad suspiciously consisting of only 6 layers!”

As an advocate for body positivity, what is the ultimate message you feel represents your perspective the most? As a partner with NEDA (the National Eating Disorder Association) and The Loveland Foundation, I have had the privilege to advocate for body positivity and mental health (mental health) on a massive scale. I guess my ultimate body positivity message would be “Fuck that noise!” All the messaging that gets installed in your brain by other people about your body is just noise. Get still and learn what you value for you.



Can you tell us a little more about your other charitable endeavors? If I have the ability to help people in genuine need or highlight a cause that I believe in, I feel that it’s the very least I can do. I side on the board of A Is For, a nonprofit organization that supports women’s reproductive rights. I also work to empower and inspire black girls and young women as a partner with Black Women Lead.

Can you share a few of your emotions as Claws enters its fourth and final season? Working with Niecy Nash has always been so much fun. In fact, the whole cast and crew has been remarkably great throughout the entire run of the series. We always kept things light on set. Mischief was definitely not only allowed but encouraged! Of course, all that lighthearted fun has turned to deep mixed emotions during the final season. As cliché as it sounds, we have become a family over the past four years!

Who or what inspires you when you cannot find inspiration in yourself? I get inspiration wherever I can find it! Music. Books. Articles. Breezes. When you start to get bored or tired of yourself, drop everything and learn a new fact about space or the ocean. The world is so wide!