When Edie Falco first read the script for “Tommy,” a drama about the first female chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, she was intrigued. But she assumed it would film in LA, a nonstarter for a single mom with two kids in school in New York City. Thanks to a little Hollywood magic, Falco was able to take the part without having to relocate.

“They have a couple of palm trees,” Falco said recently at a cafe near her home in the West Village. “Carry 'em around in the truck and stick 'em in front of the bodega, stick 'em in front of the person’s house. Seriously, by the end of the season, they were looking a little sad.”