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Rachel Sennott appears on the video call and right away starts an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, sounding genuinely remorseful. Despite being only slightly behind, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, in this context, this is exactly what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s pretty predictable. Those who have seen her boldly queer and outspoken film titled Bottoms—which she co-wrote with her creative partner and starred in alongside collaborator The Bear’s standout—would be aware that she has much to share, be it about gender, relationships, or the merits of forming a youth brawl society. And, after watching the new multi-episode program I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds even more perspectives about the struggles of Gen Z life (At 30, she is a relatable figure to younger audiences, straddling eras with a knack for bridging millennials and Gen Z).

Influences and Artistic Direction

Likenesses to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott is a fan, referencing the show alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as influences for the project, which details the journey of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and new agent Maia. However, the most significant presence on creative vision was reserved for Entourage, the show depicting a rising Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it throughout COVID-19, became “captivated”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.

“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The concept for this project emerged—to some extent—from firsthand, at first fractious, move to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about phenomenon for enthusiasts. This represented a phase that involved her understand major life lessons, professionally and in private life. “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. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Starting Out

Brought up in Connecticut, the star began writing and performing humor while enrolled in performance at NYU’s Tisch. “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?”

Sennott seized control, performing at open mics with Ayo and sharing uproarious (and decidedly) weird comedy videos on the internet. One, Baby Cult, depicted several females intensely drawn to having babies; a different one envisioned working at the brand Hollister as akin to being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately appearing in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her path, she explains, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”

Career Breakthrough

Individuals who were skeptical about Sennott then will likely be kicking themselves currently. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to manifested the perfect project. Previously she shared a video called about Los Angeles online, in which she lampooned movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a series about Angelenos balancing advantages of digital stardom (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being suspected of being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a risky pariah). Some could easy to create a series about online fame that was overly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA steers clear of each, resulting in a depiction of privileged young adult existence that’s frank about the mess and the shine.

Empathetic Approach

“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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