An Interview with Zyra Gorecki & Nicholas Gonzalez from ‘La Brea’

LA BREA -- Season: 3 -- Pictured: Zyra Gorecki as Izzy and Nicholas Gonzalez as Levi -- (Photo by: Jasin Boland/NBC)

Zyra Gorecki is a rising star in Hollywood, and Nicholas Gonzalez has popped up often in some popular shows over the past few years. But currently, they are both highly beloved courtesy of their work on the fan-favorite series, La Brea on NBC, a show that sadly is coming to an end. And to properly memorialize the wonder of their time on the show as Izzy and Levi, respectively, they were kind enough to sit down and discuss all things La Brea with us. 
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John Betancourt: What is your fondest memory of working on this show?

Zyra Gorecki: Oh, that’s such a beautiful thought. Listen, we’ve had three years of this, and I have truly so many beautiful memories of cast, crew, every single person that has worked on this, I cannot narrow it down to one. Like telling you to pick a favorite song!

Nicholas Gonzalez: Alright, that's yeah, I'm trying to think about too. I think it's, it's more just, we had so many times of where we were holed up, you know, staying out of the elements. Braving a lot of that together. And it was an adventure. You know, it's really hard to pinpoint. But I think it was those times when we came together under these circumstances that were really tough. You know, shooting conditions, a lot of times and just getting through that day, you know, you couldn't help but look left and right and be like, “Okay, we did it.”

Zyra Gorecki: I do have wait, I do have one story of Eoin… oh, wait, I don't… oh I can't tell that story. No, no, because it's in the future, rats!  I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry! It hasn’t happened yet! He was snoring. Snoring on camera.

John Betancourt: I’m curious what each of you learned from your characters over the past three years and what you took away from them?

Zyra Gorecki: I learned, don’t choose anger first. In my experience… I am not an angry person per se but if something happens like, anger happens, whatever, but to explore the other emotions first. Because Izzy is so good at that and so good at being mature, and understanding other people and the empathy, and it's like with the Izzy and Levi situation, like she was so incredibly understanding for this this huge betrayal and just talked to him like a person. Which is wild. At 16 years old, can you imagine?

Nicholas Gonzalez: Um, I think that for me, one of the biggest things that I think, is that Levi kind of… while he was a very logical and smart, I think he let his heart run ahead of him a few times and whether that was because of Eve and wanting to keep the family you know, obviously safe, he was spread pretty thin. Because there was a genuine love for Levi and Izzy and Josh, and you know the family. So, it was a… I think he kind of… I learned a bit along with him… that I think you just really have to kind of stop, stop yourself and not rush headlong into things like that, especially when you're letting emotions get the best of you.

John Betancourt: What has this incredible three-year journey meant to each of you?

Nicholas Gonzalez: For me, it's just… it's meant a lot because it took a lot of time away from our family, you know, as well, this, we had to create a family while still, you know, just letting everybody do their own thing and trying to live somewhere else. When everything you hold close in the world is on the other side of it, that was probably one of the toughest things about it, you know, for me and learning about you know, how resilient I think even just as actors that we can be, you know, put in the situation like we were in the first season, you know?

Zyra Gorecki: I am reminded every single time I talk about this show how truly grateful that I am to everyone who allowed me to do this, to make this, with people that I adore. Because this is my first show. This is the first big thing that I've ever done and for them to take a risk on me and go “Yep, we're gonna do this and we're gonna do three seasons of it.” That's wild. Absolutely wild, and I'm so incredibly grateful. Oh, and also to the people around me who… I had no idea what I was doing, and they were just like, “yeah,” like, Eoin. Like, Eoin truly took me under his wing and was like, “Listen, you don't know what any of these words mean? I understand that. Let me explain them to you whilst also not making you feel foolish” was wonderful.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. The final season of ‘La Brea’ debuts on NBC on January 9, 2024, at 9p-10p ET/PT and will be streaming on Peacock, the next day.

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