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Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and immediately starts an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, appearing truly apologetic. Despite being only a couple of minutes delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, in this context, this is just what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s quite predictable. Viewers who have seen the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—that Sennott penned with the director and appeared in together with close companion the talented actress—can understand that Sennott possesses plenty to discuss, be it about roles, sex, or the pros of forming a youth brawl society. Plus, by the end her recent eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star carries even more insights regarding the challenges of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott serves as a bridge for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for connecting both generations).

Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, referencing it in addition to the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as influences for her series, which follows the travails of an influencer Tallulah and close companion and aspiring agent Maia. Notably, the largest presence on concept went to Entourage, the program about an emerging Hollywood star navigating in an often-seedy LA scene (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She started watching it during the pandemic, became “captivated”, and decided to create a new version 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 explains. The idea for I Love LA originated—to some extent—from her own, originally fractious, transition to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed occurrence for followers. This represented a time that involved her understand major insights, in her career and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Early Beginnings

Raised in Connecticut, Sennott started writing and performing comedy while studying theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

She decided to act independently, appearing at live shows with her friend and posting uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre skits online. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; another imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being stuck in a horror film. Interestingly, she met Emma through campus film circles and ultimately starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Career Breakthrough

Individuals who had doubts regarding Sennott previously will certainly be feeling foolish today. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she seems to have achieved the perfect project. A few years back she uploaded content named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a series about Angelenos balancing benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and potentially becoming a risky persona non grata). Some could simple to produce a show about digital influence that was horribly idealized—or, more problematic, one that punched down at the characters. I Love LA steers clear of each, creating a portrait of affluent young adult life that’s frank about the grot and the appeal.

Balanced Perspective

“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she observes. “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