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Rachel Sennott appears on the video call and at once starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, seeming genuinely regretful. She is only a bit delayed, she needs to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, in this context, that’s precisely what is ideal to hear. Additionally, it’s fairly predictable. Those familiar with the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and brash film Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and featured in together with close companion the talented actress—will understand that she holds much to say, be it about identity, intimacy, or the pros of forming a high-school fight club. And, once you finish the recent multi-episode HBO series titled I Love LA, it is clear that she holds additional insights regarding the struggles of modern youth (At 30, Sennott represents a bridge of the gang, straddling eras with a knack for bridging millennials and Gen Z).

Inspirations and Creative Vision

The comparisons to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott is a fan, referencing the show in addition to the HBO hit, Insecure and the innovative program as guides for her series, which tracks the travails of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and fledgling talent manager Maia. Notably, the largest influence on concept was reserved for Entourage, the program focusing on an emerging celebrity making his way in an often-seedy entertainment industry (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it during lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose to add a fresh perspective 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 concept for this project emerged—in part—from personal, initially difficult, relocation to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed occurrence for enthusiasts. That period marked a phase that included her understand significant life lessons, in her career and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Starting Out

Brought up in Connecticut, the star started creating and acting stand-up while pursuing theatre at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”

Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at live shows with her friend and sharing uproarious (and distinctly) weird comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted several females intensely fixated on motherhood; a different one portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being trapped in a scary movie. By chance, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and eventually featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the intense thriller. The big theme of her career, she explains, has been peers giving her a shot, rather than the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”

Manifesting Dreams

Those who were skeptical regarding her then will surely be kicking themselves today. Through she labels a “wild, full-circle” development, she appears to created the perfect project. Previously she uploaded content called about Los Angeles online, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a comedy about city dwellers balancing advantages of internet fame (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being accused of being a substance-abusing thief, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). Some could tempting to make a series about digital influence that was horribly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at the characters. I Love LA avoids both, creating a representation of affluent millennial existence that’s frank about the mess 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 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