 I am happy. I'm so happy. This is what happy feels like.
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| — Audra Levine, "Josh and I Go to Los Angeles!" |
Audra Levine is a Jewish attorney from New York City and childhood acquaintance of Rebecca Bunch. For years she competed against Rebeacca academically and this conflict continued into thier professional careers. It wasn't until Bunch relocated to West Covina, California that Audra got ahead by accepting a promotion at the law firm of Sampson & Saunders which her rival declined. The two frenemies were unexpectedly reunited when a high profile law suit saw them facing off against each other in court. Audra was first mentioned in the episode "I'm Going on a Date with Josh's Friend!" and made her appearance in the Season One episode "Josh and I Go to Los Angeles!". She is portrayed by actress Rachel Grate.
Character history
Audra Levine was raised in the Scarsdale area of Weschester County in New York. As a child she was pushed by her mother to excel scholastically but found herself always coming in second place to her fellow classmate Rebecca Bunch. Both were the top of thier class and social pariahs at school with similar upbringings. Despite the many traits they shared, Audra rejected any notions Rebecca had of them ever becoming friends. She believed Rebecca to be her rival and this antagonistic competition continued for years. In adulthood they both became lawyers after graduating from Ivy League schools; Audra from Cornell and Rebecca from Harvard. In 2015 they were both working at the same New York law firm of Sampson & Saunders but Rebecca pulled ahead of Audra by earning a promotion to junior partner.
Rebecca quit her job and relocated to West Covina, California which greatly pleased Audra who was glad to see her go ("Josh Has No Idea Where I Am!"). Audra accepted the promotion her rival turned down and established herself as the firm's top attorney. The following year Audra was approached by a new client, a west coast company called Greater City Water. A class action lawsuit had been filed against them which claimed they'd been diverting water areas around the San Gabriel Valley to Los Angeles. Audra had personal reasons for taking the case as the opposing counsel was Rebecca Bunch. She and her team flew to West Covina and went to the law offices of Whitefeather & Associates. Audra told her rival that there was no settlement offer and to drop the lawsuit (♫ JAP Battle ♫). Her advice was ignored and the case went to trial in Los Angeles.
In the L.A. County courtroom, Audra waited as Rebecca presented all her plaintiffs testimony which ended with her star witness Bert. He was a Greater City Water ex-employee who had done extensive research detailing his former company's illegal activities. When it was Audra's turn for cross examination she brought up that Bert had been suffering from schizophrenia for sixteen years. With no further questions, Audra subtly celebrated with her team the devastating blow she dealt to Rebecca's case. After a brief recess, Rebecca was called by the judge to present further evidence or give her closing argument. Audra was unnerved when her nemesis kept staring at her and seemed to be experiencing some inner struggle involving files she had in her possession.
Audra was shocked when Rebecca finally snapped out of her funk and delivered a sentimental speech as her closing argument. After some deliberation, the judge ruled in favor of Greater City Water feeling Audra did put some doubt into the legitimacy of Bert's testimony. Audra could barely contain her excitement at having won the case and after the court cleared aproached Rebecca to gloat. Rebecca admitted her defeat but told Audra she beat someone who didn't really exist anymore. Audra didn't care as long as she had the victory and was about to walk away when Rebecca stopped her. She told Audra to take care of herself and not to forget to let herself be happy. Audra was a bit taken aback by the sentiment and stated that she was already happy before walking away ("Josh and I Go to Los Angeles!").