Zyra Gorecki is a breakout star on La Brea, NBC’s new sci-fi drama; here's everything to know about the actress who plays Izzy. The show follows a California family as they become separated after a sinkhole opens up in the heart of Los Angeles. Viewers soon learn this isn’t the average sinkhole. Buildings, cars, and people who are sucked into the void, centered near the city’s La Brea Tar Pits, wake up in an alternate world where there is no technology and prehistoric creatures, like sabretooth tigers and wolves, roam the land.
La Brea has been compared to other popular sci-fi series like Lost and viewers have even questioned whether or not La Brea is a Land of the Lost reboot, as it shares similarities with the series from the 1970s. Gorecki’s character, Izzy, remains in modern-day Los Angeles, and with the help of her father, she must try to prove that her mother and brother are still alive somewhere deep below the city streets. The pilot suggests this is not the first mysterious sinkhole to appear in the world, but it is not yet clear if there is something more sinister going on.
The entire cast is great, but it's really Izzy and her actress, Zyra Gorecki, that stood out to viewers in the pilot and second episode. Her entertainment industry experience didn’t start with acting. Instead, she began her career as a model, and it was her modeling agent who actually suggested Gorecki begin pursuing acting roles because of her big personality. Her prosthetic leg in La Brea is real; the Michigan-born actress needed an amputation in her early teens after her leg was injured in a logging accident, and she's thrived since.
Gorecki’s first acting role was a small part in a 2016 episode of the NBC show Chicago Fire. Now, she stars alongside La Brea’s notable cast of actors and actresses this season in her first-ever recurring television role, a monumental moment in her career. Gorecki’s casting also makes the actress one of the first people with an amputation to be featured in a recurring role on network television, giving much-needed representation to viewers who have amputations or are limb-different.
La Brea has the opportunity to become a successful show in the science fiction television genre. The series could very well kick off a long career for the talented Gorecki. La Brea’s predecessor, Lost, owes its success to its complex characters and the dynamic actors and actresses playing them. If La Brea focuses on the strengths of its cast, like Gorecki's on-screen charisma, they too may rise to the same popularity. Even if the show doesn’t reach its full potential, Zyra Gorecki’s career is just getting started.
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La Brea episode 3 will air on October 12 on NBC and Hulu.