🔗 Share this article

Rachel Sennott enters the video call and at once starts an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, sounding truly regretful. Despite being only a bit delayed, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, in this context, this is exactly what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s quite expected. Anyone who know the fearlessly queer and outspoken movie Bottoms—that she co-wrote with the director and starred in alongside collaborator The Bear’s standout—will be aware that Sennott possesses a lot to share, be it on gender, intimacy, or the merits of forming a youth fight club. And, after watching the new seasonal show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she has further perspectives regarding the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, she serves as a relatable figure to younger audiences, straddling eras with a knack for connecting different age groups).

Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges enthusiastic, citing the show in addition to the classic series, Insecure and the innovative program as guides for her series, which details the struggles of online personality Tallulah and ally who is also fledgling agent portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the most significant presence on the moodboard was reserved for Entourage, the HBO sitcom depicting an emerging A-list actor navigating in an often-seedy entertainment industry (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She started watching it throughout COVID-19, became “hooked”, and resolved to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.

“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The inspiration for this project originated—in part—from her own, at first difficult, relocation to LA and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for enthusiasts. This represented an era that included her learn major insights, in her career and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “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, Sennott commenced developing and showcasing humor while enrolled in acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at live shows with Ayo and sharing uproarious (and decidedly) bizarre skits digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed characters fetishistically fixated on having babies; another envisioned working at the brand Hollister as like being trapped in a thriller. By chance, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and ultimately starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her career, she notes, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she repeats, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Rising Success

Anyone who had doubts regarding Sennott earlier will certainly be kicking themselves currently. As part of she describes as a “incredibly circular” development, she has manifested an ideal role. Previously she posted content titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers juggling benefits of digital stardom (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a risky persona non grata). One might easy to create a program about internet celebrity that was overly idealized—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA avoids both, creating a depiction of privileged twentysomething living that’s honest about the grot and the glamour.

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