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Rachel Sennott enters the video call and right away begins an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, sounding truly regretful. Although she's only slightly late, she needs to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, during an interview, that’s exactly what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s quite predictable. Those familiar with her boldly queer and outspoken film Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and appeared in alongside close companion Ayo Edebiri—can be aware that she possesses plenty to share, be it on roles, sex, or the appeal of forming a teen fight club. And, after watching her recent seasonal program I Love LA, viewers realize that she has additional thoughts on the darker side of Gen Z life (At 30, she represents a relatable figure to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial skilled for bridging millennials and Gen Z).

Influences and Artistic Direction

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, naming it alongside the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which tracks the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and close companion who is also aspiring representative Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest spot on the moodboard went to Entourage, the program about an up-and-coming A-list actor making his way in a corrupt LA scene (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it amid lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist 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 this project originated—in part—from firsthand, initially fractious, move to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a popular phenomenon for enthusiasts. This represented a phase that involved her learn major life lessons, work-wise and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Humble Origins

Raised in Connecticut, Sennott commenced creating and acting stand-up while studying acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

She seized control, taking the stage at amateur nights with Edebiri and uploading hilarious (and decidedly) bizarre comedy videos digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively fixated on motherhood; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being caught in a thriller. By chance, she met Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. The central motif of her career, she notes, has been people her own age giving her a shot, instead of the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”

Manifesting Dreams

Individuals who questioned regarding Sennott previously will certainly be feeling foolish today. In what she labels a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she has manifested her dream vehicle. A few years back she shared content called on LA life online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a series about LA residents juggling advantages of digital stardom (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). Some could simple to produce a program about online fame that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at the characters. I Love LA steers clear of each, creating a representation of affluent twentysomething life that’s frank about the chaos and the appeal.

Nuanced Portrayal

“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” she comments. “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