Rachel Sennott appears on the digital interview and right away begins an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, seeming genuinely regretful. Although she's only a bit delayed, she wants to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s precisely what you want to hear. Moreover, it’s fairly predictable. Viewers familiar with her fearlessly queer and outspoken project Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with the director and appeared in alongside close companion Ayo Edebiri—can already know that Sennott possesses plenty to discuss, whether on identity, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a high-school combat group. And, by the end the new eight-part program titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star holds further perspectives about the struggles of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott serves as a relatable figure of the gang, on the cusp with a knack for connecting different age groups).
Influences and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress admits to being a fan, naming it alongside Sex and the City, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for her series, which details the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also aspiring representative Maia. Perhaps, the largest presence on creative vision belonged to the popular sitcom, that program depicting an up-and-coming Hollywood star navigating in an often-seedy LA scene (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it amid lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The concept for I Love LA originated—in part—from firsthand, originally rocky, relocation to LA and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about event for enthusiasts. It was a phase that involved her grasp significant insights, in her career and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Brought up in Connecticut, the star began developing and showcasing humor while enrolled in acting at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” 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 open mics with Edebiri and sharing hilarious (and distinctly) unconventional skits online. One, Baby Cult, followed characters intensely obsessed with having babies; a different one portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and ultimately starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a funeral gathering with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her path, she says, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, rather than the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, adding amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who were skeptical about her earlier will likely be regretting it today. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” development, she appears to manifested an ideal role. A few years back she posted content titled “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a show about city dwellers managing advantages of internet fame (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your associate being labeled as being a drug-addled criminal, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). Some could tempting to create a show about digital influence that was overly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at its subjects. This show avoids both, making for a portrait of affluent millennial life that’s honest about the chaos and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
