Odessa A’zion has quickly become one of Hollywood’s most talked-about rising stars — and 2025 has officially been her breakout year.
From showing off her sharp comedic timing opposite Rachel Sennott to sharing the big screen with Gwyneth Paltrow and Timothée Chalamet, the 25-year-old actress has proven she’s more than ready for the spotlight. Formerly best known for Netflix’s Grand Army and a string of buzzy horror films, Odessa now stars in two of the season’s biggest projects: Sennott’s I Love LA, currently airing weekly on HBO, and A24’s sports drama Marty Supreme, which hit theaters on Christmas Day.
Odessa grew up surrounded by the entertainment industry. Her father, Felix O. Adlon, is a German writer and producer, while her mother, Pamela Adlon, is an Emmy-winning actress best known for voicing Bobby Hill on King of the Hill and starring in Californication and Louie. Pamela also earned multiple Emmy nominations as a writer and producer for Louie and later created and starred in FX’s Better Things.
Pamela has previously shared how much her daughters influenced her work — specifically for her show, Better Things. “My real-life daughters, they chose the girls,” she told Jimmy Kimmel Live while discussing casting the series. “I showed them the tapes for casting, and they cast the girls who they thought was best. It’s kind of weird. It’s like picking your re-enactor of your life.”
Growing up in Los Angeles, Odessa developed a love for acting early on. She told Teen Vogue that Jack Nicholson’s performance in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest inspired her. “I just really wanted to be like that,” she said.
As a kid, Odessa staged plays and wrote skits alongside her siblings — older sister Gideon and younger sister Valentine, who are also actors. Her first credited role came in the 2011 dramedy Conception, which starred her mother and featured an ensemble cast including Connie Britton, David Arquette and Julie Bowen.
By her teens, Odessa was determined to carve out her own path. “I wanted to [act] when I was younger, but my family didn’t let me,” she explained. “When I was 15, I went and got an agent and just started doing it on my own.”
That drive paid off. After gaining attention in Grand Army and genre films like Hellraiser, Odessa has stepped into a new era of her career. In Marty Supreme, she plays Rachel Mizler, the love interest of Chalamet’s Marty Mauser, in a cast that also includes Fran Drescher, Gwyneth Paltrow and Tyler, the Creator.
With back-to-back high-profile roles and undeniable screen presence, Odessa is just getting started. Scroll through our gallery to see every movie and TV show she’s starred in so far.
