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Rachel Sennott appears on the online meeting and right away launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, appearing genuinely apologetic. Although she's only slightly delayed, she needs to clarify. “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, that’s precisely what is ideal to experience. Moreover, it’s quite unsurprising. Those who have seen her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—which she collaborated on with her creative partner and starred in together with her friend the talented actress—will be aware that Sennott holds plenty to discuss, ranging from on gender, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a high-school combat group. Plus, once you finish the recent eight-part program titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star holds even more insights on the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she serves as an honorary member to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling different age groups).

Guiding Lights and Creative Vision

Parallels to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, referencing the show in addition to the classic series, Insecure and the innovative program as guides for the project, which details the journey of a social media star Tallulah and close companion who is also aspiring agent Maia. Notably, the biggest influence on creative vision went to Entourage, the show about an up-and-coming celebrity navigating in an often-seedy Hollywood (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it throughout lockdown, became “hooked”, and decided 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 explains. The inspiration for I Love LA came—to some extent—from her own, at first difficult, transition to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about event for followers. That period marked a phase that included her learn major truths, professionally and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” 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 …”

Early Beginnings

Growing up in New England, the star commenced developing and showcasing comedy while pursuing theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

She seized control, appearing at live shows with Ayo and posting uproarious (and decidedly) bizarre comedy videos online. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on characters fetishistically fixated on having babies; another imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being caught in a scary movie. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she explains, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, instead of established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, stating amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”

Career Breakthrough

Anyone who questioned about Sennott then will likely be feeling foolish currently. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” development, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded a clip called “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about Angelenos balancing advantages of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing stealer, and potentially becoming a risky pariah). One might tempting to create a series about online fame that was overly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a depiction of affluent young adult life that’s honest about the grot and the appeal.

Empathetic Approach

“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