Ayo Edebiri’s ‘I Love LA’ appearance explained by Rachel Sennott

So, about that appearance by you know who in I Love LA Episode 2, it sounds like it may have been a thing of convenience for Rachel Sennott as much as it was a surprise for the fans. 

**Massive spoiler alert for Episode 2 of I Love LA, now streaming on HBO Max**

Ayo Edebiri shocked fans Sunday night when she popped up on screen playing a British popstar named Mimi Rush, who Charlie (Jordan Firstman) works for, albeit briefly. At the end of the episode, Mimi actually fires Charlie for trying to get dirt on Zendaya, who Mimi earlier explained had been pitched to play her mother in a music video.

According to Sennott, who starred alongside the Emmy Award winner in the 2023 comedy Bottoms, which Sennott also co-wrote, it all came together as they were looking for someone to come in and play the eccentric popstar who has a strained relationship with Charlie. 

“I called Ayo because basically, we were like, ‘If we want to hang out, we have to work together.’ So I was like, ‘Do you wanna come to two days on the show?’” Sennott told DECIDER of how Edebiri’s role came to be filled. “And then she brought all these different ideas. She was like, I want to do a mullet. I want a bedazzled vape, I want a British accent. I was like, ‘Yes to everything.’” 

Hilariously, the series uses Edebiri to play the “kooky, fun” starlet, and it worked out on numerous levels. Sennott said that many of Firstman and Edebiri’s parts in the episode were improvised, which she described as “so fun and wild” to see, especially because she didn’t get to share the screen with them.

For his own part, Firstman said that he knew via the scripts before he signed on that the show would have someone to come in and play a singer-songwriter, but that he didn’t know it would be her until they locked her in. After that, he said he couldn’t have been more excited to find out he’d be working with someone he’s been able to call a friend for years. 

Since writing together on Big Mouth and starring with Sennott in Bottoms, Edebiri has been diversifying her acting portfolio, most recently starring in the Luca Guadagnino-directed After the Hunt with Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield.

“I’ve known Ayo for a decade, we wrote on Big Mouth together and obviously, it’s been amazing to see her rise to stardom. But it’s also fun to see her like really get back to her comedy roots and like plays something really outlandish and over-the-top,” he said. 

Apart from seeing Edebiri’s foray into more dramatic roles, Firstman was just glad to finally get to share the screen with the actress who has been dubbed “the people’s princess of Ireland.” If you know, you know. 

“We’ve never even gotten to act together. So it was really those days were so fun and exciting. And she’s very intimidating as Mimi Rush,” Firstman added. 

I Love LA airs Sundays on HBO at 10:30 p.m. ET and streams on HBO Max at the same time.

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