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Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and at once launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely regretful. Despite being only a bit delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is just what one hopes to experience. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Those who have seen the unapologetically openly gay and brash movie Bottoms—that she collaborated on with her creative partner and starred in with her friend the talented actress—would already know that she has plenty to discuss, whether on identity, sex, or the appeal of creating a high-school combat group. And, once you finish the new seasonal show I Love LA, it is clear that she has further thoughts about the challenges of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott serves as a bridge for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for bridging both generations).

Influences and Artistic Direction

Likenesses to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress is an admirer, referencing the show together with the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for the project, which details the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and aspiring agent Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the largest influence on creative vision was reserved for Entourage, that HBO sitcom about a rising Hollywood star navigating in a gritty LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The idea for I Love LA came—to some extent—from her own, initially rocky, move to LA and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed phenomenon for enthusiasts. It was a time that included her grasp significant life lessons, in her career and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” 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

Raised in the East Coast, the star began developing and showcasing humor while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”

She seized control, appearing at amateur nights with her friend and sharing hilarious (and very) weird comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on characters obsessively obsessed with motherhood; another portrayed being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being trapped in a thriller. By chance, she met Seligman through campus film circles and eventually starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a religious event with echoes of the intense thriller. The central motif of her career, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Career Breakthrough

Individuals who had doubts about her earlier will certainly be regretting it today. In what she calls a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she appears to created an ideal role. In 2019 she uploaded a video titled about Los Angeles online, in which she parodied movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a series about city dwellers balancing the perks of digital stardom (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a unreliable outcast). Some could tempting to make a program about online fame that was extremely idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at the characters. The series steers clear of each, creating a portrait of advantaged twentysomething life that’s candid 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 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