Natasha Behnam teases The Girls on the Bus season 2 and consequences of Lola’s ‘crazy decision’
HBO’s The Girls on the Bus is a messy, flawed and honest look at the world of journalism in 2024 – and nowhere is that more clear than in the character arc of Lola Rahaii, portrayed by the brilliant Natasha Behnam. Lola is Gen Z, a social media warrior with no traditional background in journalism, and the victim of a shooting when she was a teenager, which led to her activism. A first-generation Iranian-American, Lola is angry, and confrontational, and rails against the establishment whenever she can, only to learn that perhaps not only can she teach the other women on the bus something about the world today, but she can also learn and grow by listening. Natasha is a first generation Iranian-American as well, and tells HELLO! that showrunners Rina Mimoun and Amy Choziak (whose book the show is based on) were open to Lola’s ethnicity being whatever it needed to be after they hired the actor, asking Natasha to sit and talk to the writers to ensure that her personal experiences were woven into the fabric …
