‘I Love LA’: Rachel Sennott on Why Josh Hutcherson Was Perfectly Cast

I Love LA is HBO‘s latest addition to the genre of a group of twentysomething friends navigating life and love in a big city. Rachel Sennott‘s comedy, premiering on Sunday, November 2, will remind you of its HBO predecessors, Girls, Sex and the City, and Insecure by nature of the genre, but it shares more DNA with the latter, and not just because Issa Rae‘s series also takes place in Los Angeles and starts on the main character’s birthday. Both Insecure and I Love LA are set in the final years of the heroine’s 20s, when she’s making decisions that could impact the rest of her life, including taking stock of her serious romantic relationship. Josh Hutcherson plays Sennott’s love interest in this eight-episode first season.

Sennott not only created the show but also serves as writer, executive producer, and star. The Season 1 finale is her directorial debut. The Bottoms star plays Maia, who works as an assistant manager at a talent agency that represents social media influencers. Maia is laser-focused on making a big life for herself, but as she makes her way to 30 post-COVID, she feels like she’s running out of time to succeed, which only feeds her ambition.

On paper, Dylan is Maia’s polar opposite. He’s a middle school Spanish teacher with no interest in a “big life,” but he cares deeply about his job molding the next generation. He also loves Maia’s ambition and genuinely supports her and her friends, a group that includes celebrity stylist Charlie (Jordan Firstman), Hollywood nepo baby Alani (True Whitaker), and influencer Tallulah (Odessa A’zion), whose career Maia helped establish when they lived in New York City.

Maia and Dylan’s relationship started during COVID, Sennott explains, and it’s at the point where they have to figure out if this is a forever thing. Sennott tells TV Insider why Hutcherson was perfect for Dylan, who executive producer Emma Barrie previously described to us as “the boyfriend everyone loves” who’s also “an outsider when it comes to the influencer world and celebrity.”

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“Josh is incredible. I’ve been a fan of his since Bridge to Terabithia. I feel like when I met with him on Zoom, I was like, he’s so disarming and charming, and he immediately feels at home,” Sennott shares. “He is warm and makes you feel comfortable.”

She’s excited for people to see more of his comedic chops.

“I think he has amazing comedic instincts. He’s really funny. I’ve seen him in dramatic stuff, but I was blown away by how funny he is,” Sennott says.

“He’s also great with improv, too,” A’zion adds in their joint interview. “Everybody was so fun and good with improv that it made anything that you thought was going to be like, OK, how am I going to play this? It just all fell together nicely, everybody being able to play.”

I Love LA also guest stars Leighton Meester as Maia’s boss, Moses Ingram, Lauren Holt, Elijah Wood, Quenlin Blackwell, Josh Brener, Tim Baltz, Froy Gutierrez, and Colin Woodell.