Liza Lapira on Traffic Light: "A Less Smartly Written Sitcom Would Make a Whole Episode About the Lie — We Just Breeze Through It"

Liza Lapira — who plays Lisa, the sharp-witted, grounded wife of Mike on FOX's new comedy Traffic Light (Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. Premier Guide Miami sat down to find out what that means — and what comes next.

Liza Lapira — who plays Lisa, the sharp-witted, grounded wife of Mike on FOX's new comedy Traffic Light (Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT) — spoke with Premier Guide Miami about what makes the show's take on relationships feel real. Lapira will next be seen in Crazy, Stupid, Love opposite Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Kevin Bacon, and Ryan Gosling.

On hiding information in relationships: "I don't think it's restricted to sex as much as guys alter information or maybe don't present the whole truth. It's kind of like a self-preservation thing. Girls do it too. Lisa has her chocolate shake time that she doesn't tell Mike about. Callie wants to get away from Adam when they move in, too, and she creates a lie to be like, 'Oh, I have this responsibility, I can't hang out with you.' We all do stupid stuff when we try to control the information."

On the show's approach to the "me time" episode: "Mike is doing that — stealing away 15-minute chunks in his car to avoid the immediate being put to work — and Lisa is hip to the game and she's not even calling him out on it. She's kind of like, yeah, I know you're doing this, but honey, I've got to go for a jog now. So take the kid, you guys can watch Iron Man in your car together and I'll be back in a half an hour. A less smartly written sitcom would make a whole episode about how he lied and she found out. But we kind of just breeze through it — yeah, babe, I get it, but I need my me time too. And it's realistic and funny to me."

On similarities with her character: "She's wonderful in terms of being in a committed relationship. She's very stable. She handles the responsibilities of life — a child, being a wife and mom, being amazing at her career. Where we're similar is that she's a smart ass and she gives as good as she gets. What I like about Lisa is she leads with being a lady. She's nice and grounded until she's not. Once you mess with her kid, then it comes out. Or if you're competitive in sports, then it comes out."

On what she loves most about the character: "She's very flirty with her husband. I think there's also an element of still wanting to be a girlfriend — that old adage, even though you're married you've still got to be his girlfriend. I actually watch all my married friends and they still flirt — at least my friends that are in healthy relationships. They're still the same kid. They're just older now and have responsibilities, but in their heart, they're still those kids that fell in love."

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