After six seasons on the hit TV drama series How to Get Away with Murder, Mexican actress Karla Souza was ready to laugh again. She now stars in the new TV comedy Home Economics, which premieres on ABC April 7 at 8:30 p.m. ET.
“I had done drama for six years, so I definitely hinted that I wanted to do comedy,” Souza told Remezcla during a recent interview. “I came from a comedy background in Mexico. I’m grateful to be going to work and laughing.”
In Mexico, Souza starred in TV comedies like Los héroes del norte and La clínica and in comedy movies like Nosotro los Nobles and Suave patria.
“I’ve gone through a lot of the tones of comedy, but in Spanish,” she said. “I hadn’t done it in English in the mainstream market, so that was a fun thing to do in an ensemble.”
In Home Economics, Souza stars as Marina, an ex-lawyer and the wife of one of the three siblings featured in the series who find themselves at different financial standings in their lives. Marina and her husband Tom (Topher Grace) are a middle-class family, but are struggling, so Tom decides to ask his wealthy younger brother for a loan.
It was easy for Souza to relate to her character because like Marina, she has two young children at home, which, as all parents know, is exhausting.
“The ins and outs of motherhood and parenthood is really what attracted me to the project,” Souza said. “It makes me happy to be able to give this to people, especially after the year that we’ve had.”
And what better way to wind down a stressful year than with a few glasses of wine? In the series, Marina is seen with her fair share of libations. In one scene, she is even walking on a treadmill while drinking some vino.
“I missed doing comedy so much–all the physical aspects of it,” she said. “I really enjoyed it.”