Nico Tortorella Explains Why Liza & Josh's Relationship On ‘Younger’ Is "Not Always Easy"

In the real New York City, you likely don't run into your ex on a regular basis, but for Brooklyn neighbors Liza and Josh on Younger, seeing each other is as commonplace as finding a Starbucks on the corner. In Season 6, the friendly exes remain close as Liza pursues a relationship with Charles and Josh adjusts to new parenthood, but just as the series has proven in the past, nothing is as simple as it seems. Speaking to Elite Daily, Nico Tortorella teases that Josh and Liza's complicated relationship on Younger is bound to grow trickier as their different stages in life continue.

In the first season of the TV Land comedy, 40-year-old Liza's (Sutton Foster) bar flirtation with 26-year-old tattoo artist Josh (Tortorella) inspired her to create the ruse of being 26 and pursuing an entry-level job in book publishing. With her true age now public knowledge in the show's sixth and current season, Liza is in a relationship with former Empirical Press boss Charles (Peter Hermann) while Josh has embraced unexpected fatherhood. At first glance, it seems the two exes are approaching vastly different paths but are still willing to stay in touch. While the characters are maintaining a cool friendship now, Tortorella hints that remaining in each other's lives will complicate things for Liza and Josh.

"They’ve been on this rollercoaster, right?" Tortorella tells me. "Some days have been better than others, and it’s going to continue. They’re never going to be what they were. But no relationship will, you know? Like, we put these moments on pedestals on television and also in our real lives ... that doesn’t exist. We have to see the people that we’re in relationships with for who they are and what they are and what it means. And Josh and Liza are going to continue to grow and evolve and some strings will get pulled closer and others further apart."

Facing fatherhood after his green card marriage to Clare (Phoebe Dynevor), Josh turned to Liza for support throughout Clare's pregnancy and the birth of their daughter Gemma. But as Liza delves deeper into her romance with Charles, Josh may be left to deal with baby-related challenges without Liza's boundless support. Now that Younger has been renewed for Season 7, it may only be a matter of time before Josh realizes he has to rely on others for the unabashed honesty Liza provides. "It’s not always easy," Tortorella says of the pair remaining close. "And it takes hard work and honesty. And like I said, some days are better than others. But it’s possible."

One reason Liza and Josh remain so invested in each other stems back to how intertwined all of Younger's characters are, even in light of Josh and Clare splitting up.

"I think it’s a version of a relationship that is important," Tortorella explains about Josh and Clare. "It’s this nontraditional, conscious uncoupling. It’s great to see on television. These two parents are deciding that they are going to co-parent, still stay in each other’s lives. And they’re also raising this baby very much so in the community of all these characters on the show. Liza’s playing a part, Gemma is in the house with Lauren (Molly Bernard) and with Kelsey (Hilary Duff), and it’s like the cast of Younger raising a baby."

He may have the help of his own village in caring for Gemma, but Josh still has to take on a majority of the responsibility alone. "He’s full dad mode [in Season 6]," Tortorella says. "Work gets more interesting, because it kind of has to, right? He has a baby, so he’s gotta step up his life. Josh becomes a man this season in so many ways."

Season 6 of Younger continues at 10 p.m. ET on Wednesdays on TV Land.