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Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and immediately begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, sounding really regretful. She is only slightly behind, she wants to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, during an interview, this is precisely what is ideal to experience. Moreover, it’s quite unsurprising. Viewers who know the boldly openly gay and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—which Sennott penned with the director and starred in with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that she possesses a lot to say, ranging from on roles, sex, or the pros of creating a teen combat group. Plus, once you finish the latest seasonal show I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has additional thoughts on the darker side of modern youth (As a millennial, Sennott is a relatable figure for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for bridging millennials and Gen Z).

Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach

Parallels to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress is enthusiastic, referencing the show alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which tracks the journey of a social media star Tallulah and her friend who is also aspiring agent Sennott’s character. However, the most significant presence on concept belonged to Entourage, that show focusing on an emerging Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy entertainment industry (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and resolved to create a new version 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 says. The concept for I Love LA emerged—to some extent—from her own, initially difficult, relocation to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for followers. That period marked a phase that saw her understand some big insights, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “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

Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott started creating and acting comedy while enrolled in performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”

She decided to act independently, performing at live shows with Ayo and sharing hilarious (and distinctly) weird online content digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted characters fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a horror film. Interestingly, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her path, she explains, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, stating with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Rising Success

Individuals who were skeptical about Sennott previously will surely be regretting it now. As part of she labels a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she appears to achieved the perfect project. In 2019 she uploaded a clip titled “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers juggling advantages of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and perhaps becoming a risky outcast). One might easy to make a show about online fame that was overly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. The series avoids both, creating a portrait of affluent twentysomething living that’s honest about the grot and the appeal.

Balanced Perspective

“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