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Rachel Sennott appears on the video call and at once begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, appearing really remorseful. Although she's only slightly behind, she feels compelled to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s just what is ideal to hear. Moreover, it’s quite expected. Anyone who know her unapologetically queer and brash project titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with the director and starred in alongside collaborator the talented actress—would already know that she possesses much to share, ranging from on gender, sex, or the pros of starting a youth brawl society. And, once you finish the new eight-part show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds additional insights regarding the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for straddling different age groups).

Inspirations and Creative Vision

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress is a fan, referencing it in addition to the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for her series, which follows the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also aspiring agent portrayed by Sennott. However, the biggest presence on the moodboard was reserved for Entourage, that program focusing on an up-and-coming A-list actor navigating in a corrupt Hollywood (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it during lockdown, became “obsessed”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The idea for I Love LA came—in part—from personal, initially difficult, transition to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a popular phenomenon for followers. That period marked a phase that saw her learn significant truths, professionally and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Humble Origins

Raised in the East Coast, Sennott started creating and acting humor while studying theatre at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”

She took matters into her own hands, appearing at amateur nights with Edebiri and uploading uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre online content online. One, Baby Cult, depicted characters obsessively fixated on having babies; a different one imagined being employed at a trendy retail outlet as like being caught in a horror film. By chance, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she says, has been people her own age offering opportunities, instead of established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, stating with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Manifesting Dreams

Individuals who had doubts about Sennott then will certainly be feeling foolish currently. Through she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to achieved her dream vehicle. A few years back she shared a clip called “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a show about city dwellers managing advantages of internet fame (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being suspected of being a intoxicated thief, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). Some could easy to create a program about online fame that was extremely aspirational—or, worse, one that punched down at the characters. I Love LA avoids both, making for a representation of affluent twentysomething existence that’s frank about the mess and the appeal.

Empathetic Approach

“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she says. “I think that young people have been through a lot – I’m mostly thinking of people younger than me, like my little sister, who went to college during Covid, so she had to come home, or my other sister who was doing school online.”|“The younger generation has faced significant