The actress and writer exploring her uproarious show about the messy glamour of younger generation lifestyle

Rachel Sennott joins the video call and right away starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, sounding truly regretful. Although she's only a bit late, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s precisely what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s pretty predictable. Those familiar with her boldly queer and outspoken film Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in with close companion The Bear’s standout—would understand that she possesses a lot to discuss, be it on roles, relationships, or the pros of forming a high-school fight club. Plus, once you finish her new multi-episode program titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she has even more insights about the struggles of young adulthood (At 30, she is an honorary member of the gang, a tale-end millennial skilled for straddling different age groups).

Inspirations and Creative Vision

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being a fan, naming it together with the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also new agent Maia. Perhaps, the most significant presence on concept went to Entourage, that program about a rising A-list actor succeeding in a corrupt entertainment industry (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott began viewing it amid lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.

“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The inspiration for this project came—in part—from firsthand, initially rocky, transition to LA and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed phenomenon for enthusiasts. It was a phase that saw her understand major truths, in her career and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Starting Out

Raised in Connecticut, Sennott started developing and showcasing humor while enrolled in performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”

Sennott decided to act independently, performing at amateur nights with Edebiri and posting hilarious (and very) bizarre comedy videos digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on several females intensely fixated on having babies; another portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being trapped in a horror film. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a religious event with shades of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her journey, she explains, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, instead of traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, continuing with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Manifesting Dreams

Individuals who questioned regarding Sennott previously will likely be kicking themselves currently. Through she describes as a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she appears to manifested the perfect project. Previously she uploaded a clip titled on LA life online, in which she lampooned film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about LA residents juggling the perks of internet fame (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). One might simple to create a program about digital influence that was horribly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at those depicted. This show does neither, resulting in a portrait of advantaged twentysomething existence that’s candid about the grot and the shine.

Balanced Perspective

“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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