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Rachel Sennott appears on the digital interview and immediately launches into an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, sounding really remorseful. She is only slightly late, she feels compelled to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s exactly what one hopes to encounter. Moreover, it’s quite expected. Those who know her unapologetically openly gay and outspoken film Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and featured in with her friend Ayo Edebiri—can be aware that Sennott has a lot to discuss, ranging from about identity, intimacy, or the merits of starting a high-school fight club. Plus, after watching the new multi-episode HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she has additional insights on the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she represents an honorary member to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial adept for bridging both generations).

Influences and Storytelling Approach

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges enthusiastic, referencing it alongside Sex and the City, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which details the travails of a social media star Tallulah and ally and aspiring agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest influence on creative vision belonged to Entourage, that show about an up-and-coming celebrity making his way in a gritty LA scene (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She began viewing it throughout COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.

“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The idea for the series originated—partly—from firsthand, originally rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from the cosmic event, a popular event for followers. That period marked an era that saw her understand significant truths, work-wise and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Humble Origins

Brought up in New England, the star commenced creating and acting stand-up while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “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.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”

Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at open mics with Edebiri and sharing uproarious (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos online. One, Baby Cult, followed a group of women obsessively obsessed with motherhood; a different one envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being stuck in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the intense thriller. The central motif of her career, she says, has been peers offering opportunities, instead of traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, continuing amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”

Career Breakthrough

Those who had doubts about Sennott earlier will certainly be regretting it now. In what she calls a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she has manifested an ideal role. A few years back she uploaded content called about Los Angeles on social media, in which she lampooned film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about LA residents juggling advantages of digital stardom (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being labeled as being a substance-abusing stealer, and possibly becoming a unreliable persona non grata). One might easy to produce a series about digital influence that was extremely aspirational—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA avoids both, creating a representation of privileged young adult life that’s honest about the grot and the shine.

Empathetic Approach

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