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Rachel Sennott joins the video call and at once starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely remorseful. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is exactly what you want to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty expected. Those who have seen the boldly openly gay and outspoken project Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with the director and starred in together with her friend The Bear’s standout—can be aware that she possesses plenty to discuss, be it about gender, relationships, or the appeal of creating a high-school brawl society. Plus, once you finish her new eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds additional perspectives regarding the darker side of modern youth (As a millennial, she represents a bridge for this generation, straddling eras adept for straddling both generations).

Inspirations and Storytelling Approach

Parallels to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, referencing it alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for the project, which follows the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the most significant influence on creative vision went to Entourage, the program focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott started watching it during the pandemic, became “hooked”, and resolved to put her own twist 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 notes. The concept for I Love LA came—to some extent—from her own, originally fractious, transition to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for enthusiasts. It was an era that saw her understand major truths, work-wise and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “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 …”

Humble Origins

Growing up in New England, Sennott began writing and performing comedy while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

She seized control, appearing at live shows with Edebiri and sharing hilarious (and very) unconventional online content digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women intensely obsessed with pregnancy; a different one portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a thriller. By chance, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a funeral gathering with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her career, she explains, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, as opposed to traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Career Breakthrough

Individuals who were skeptical regarding her then will certainly be regretting it today. Through she describes as a “wild, full-circle” story, she has created an ideal role. A few years back she uploaded a clip named “it’s LA” online, in which she mocked film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a show about city dwellers juggling advantages of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being suspected of being a intoxicated thief, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). It would be tempting to make a series about internet celebrity that was overly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. This show steers clear of each, making for a portrait of privileged twentysomething existence that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.

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