Note: This story contains spoilers from “I Love LA” Season 1, Episode 1.
Rachel Sennott’s “I Love LA” plunges viewers into the chaotic yet lovable shenanigans of Odessa A’zion’s Tallulah, who quickly becomes a force of disruption for Sennott’s Maia when she arrives into town and attempts to resume their longtime friendship. Luckily for A’zion, the spark with Sennott felt right from the start.
“You either have chemistry or you don’t have chemistry, and Rachel and I just had really good chemistry in life, and then for these characters, and … bounce off of each other really well, improv-wise,” A’zion told TheWrap. “You can fake chemistry sometimes, but … it’s always a little bit off. I feel like even if you don’t have chemistry in real life, you could have really good on-screen chemistry still, but we were lucky that we had good chemistry in real life and on screen.”
Their chemistry only works to underscore the history between the former best friends, which has taken a pause since Tallulah didn’t follow through on the duo’s plans to move from New York to Los Angeles years ago, though you wouldn’t be able to tell by the way Tallulah makes herself welcome in Maia’s home. In fact, it’s the way Tallulah’s intoxicating charisma opens doors — including LA’s Tenants of the Trees — that makes Mia feel even more isolated.
The other shoe drops, however, when Tallulah reveals that her life isn’t as perfect as she’s making it seem: her boyfriend cheated on her and kicked her out, and she’s pretty much living out of her bag. It’s a confession that takes some strength for Tallulah, who arrives in LA to see Maia in a steady job and healthy relationship, with A’zion noting “Tallulah was probably hiding what she was going through because she wanted to seem like she had her s–t together.”
“They were both probably jealous of each other and felt betrayed by each other,” A’zion said. “We first hear it from from Maia’s perspective … how Tallulah betrayed her. I’m sure Tallulah felt like Maia betrayed her as well for going to LA and staying in LA when they wanted to do New York together.”
After both Tallulah and Maia let down their facades, they come up with a plan: Tallulah will stay in LA and Maia will manage her career as a up and coming influencer.
A’zion recalls Tallulah being fully formed by the time she came on board, but the process of shooting the pilot — which A’zion said got even funnier in rewrites — helped her refine her perspective on Tallulah’s style, which A’zion describes as “super femme and tight” in a stark contrast from her personal style.
“After we did the pilot, I realized, ‘Okay, this is who Tallulah has to be — that’s her whole thing,” A’zion said. “When we came back to do the rest of the show, and the rest of the fittings, they would put on the clothes, and I was like, ‘Okay, I love this, but I think that she would wear an even smaller skirt.’”
“The best way to work is to have freedom to collaborate and make the character your own,” A’zion continued.
Though Tallulah plays a rising star influencer hoping to build up her internet fame with Maia’s help, A’zion clarified that Tallulah doesn’t represent every influencer, and that she didn’t take inspiration from any particular influencer.
“She’s obviously flawed, like a lot of the other characters in the show as well — every character is a little flawed,” A’zion added. “I don’t think that all influencers are like her. She’s very particular. She’s super driven, though, and has her s–t together for the most part, not all the way.”
As could be expected by the HBO comedy’s title, the premiere episode of “I Love LA” features a quintessential LA experience: hitting up Erewhon for snacks on the long haul from the east side to the beach. “That was the first time anybody’s ever filmed in an Erewhon before,” A’zion notes. “Isn’t that crazy?”
What follows is a dreamy ode to the city as A’zion’s Tallulah and True Whitaker’s Alani drive up across the city and up PCH to the beach, set to the tune of Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” “We got to just drive around in this nice car all day in the sun, and it was just me and True hanging out with like this van in front of us … it’s basically this van with an open back, and everybody is sitting in the van watching you and watching the monitor,” A’zion explained.
She noted that the scene was filmed well before Los Angeles’ wildfires in early 2025 wreaked havoc on PCH around the Pacific Palisades area. “It’s pretty cool that that’s something that we have — a little piece of history down there, even though you can’t really see it that much,” she noted.
It’s an exciting time for A’zion, who will also soon appear opposite Timothée Chalamet in “Marty Supreme.” Given previous projects that either came out in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic or the strikes or were smaller indies, A’zion notes that recent events for “I Love LA” and “Marty Supreme” have marked her first big premieres.
“It’s very overwhelming. I’m super, super grateful,” A’zion said. “It’s been crazy balancing, but I feel really, really lucky to be a part of both things and for them to be so different and satisfy like both parts of the acting spectrum.”
“I Love LA” premieres Sundays at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and HBO Max.
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