What you need to know
Odessa Azion does not like to talk about the details of her family life.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, actress Marty Supreme, 25, was asked about her mother, Pamela Adlon, 59, and her show Better Things, which aired from 2019 to 2022.
The critically acclaimed drama, which follows Adlon’s character Sam Fox, a divorced actress who is raising three children on her own, was long considered an autobiographical series.
Azion, who was 16 when Better Things premiered on FX, was asked about the comedy-drama in an interview with THR and said, “People will watch the show and guess things.” THR reported that Azion answered the questions while reading notes he had saved on his phone.
“And all I can say is this is from a very one person’s perspective on the possibility of a shared experience,” the actress added to THR.
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Azion remained wary when asked whether she became an actress because of her mother’s career. “It’s really hard to talk about it without getting into personal details that probably shouldn’t be known to the world,” she told THR.
When asked if her mother had tried to persuade her to quit acting, she said, “Again, it’s really difficult to answer,” and refused to discuss the current relationship between mother and daughter.
Azion (who started using a stage name inspired by her middle name, Zion, in 2021, according to THR) has two sisters. Gideon (28) and Valentine Rocky (22). Adlon has three daughters with ex-husband Felix O. Adlon, whom she married in 1996 and divorced in 2010.
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Adlon previously said the decision to change his life for the better was “a lightning bolt moment.”
She told NPR Fresh Air’s Terry Gross in 2016 about involving her daughters while working on the series, saying, “In the beginning, I was very protective of my daughters in terms of what I was doing and the material. I was protective of the project, and I was protective of the actual kids, so they didn’t feel like they were being taken advantage of or that something was getting over them.”
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“Eventually they got involved and helped me cast the girls and they voted and I aired the right material by them, and they really value that part of it. The show is completely dedicated to them and everything they do, and it really gives them a voice,” she told the magazine.
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Adlon hasn’t spoken publicly about Azion’s success, but he praised his HBO series I Love LA on Instagram in November and posted the trailer for Marty Supreme in August.
“Gods!!!!! I’m a mother—— imagine…? I can’t stand it. My little girl poo did this. She always showed up like a (mother—er) (and… she’s so talented) Congratulations Odessa! 💦💦💦 Can’t wait to see this movie! X 🦊🐢 #martysupreme #a24 #a24films,” Adlon posted along with a teaser for the film. The film stars Azion as Rachel Mizler and co-stars Timothée Chalamet as Marty Moser and Gwyneth Paltrow as Kay Stone.
Adlon later wrote of I Love LA in November, “What a perfect night, what a perfect moment. We love LA 🧢! We’re watching! 🐢 #proudmama #doyers #ilovemydaughter #odessa.”
