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Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and immediately launches into an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, appearing really regretful. Despite being only slightly delayed, she needs to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s exactly what one hopes to experience. Additionally, it’s pretty unsurprising. Anyone familiar with her fearlessly queer and brash film Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in together with her friend the talented actress—will understand that Sennott possesses a lot to share, whether on gender, intimacy, or the pros of creating a teen combat group. And, by the end her latest multi-episode show titled I Love LA, it is clear that she holds additional perspectives about the struggles of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott is an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp skilled for bridging both generations).

Inspirations and Artistic Direction

Likenesses to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and the actress admits to being a fan, referencing the show in addition to the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for the project, which details the journey of a social media star Tallulah and ally and new talent manager Sennott’s character. However, the biggest influence on the moodboard went to the HBO series, the program depicting an emerging A-list actor making his way in an often-seedy LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it during COVID-19, 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 the series originated—in part—from firsthand, originally difficult, move to LA and from her saturn return, a popular phenomenon for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that saw her learn major insights, professionally and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Starting Out

Raised in New England, Sennott commenced developing and showcasing stand-up while enrolled in acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”

Sennott decided to act independently, performing at live shows with Ayo and uploading hysterical (and very) weird comedy videos digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, followed characters intensely drawn to pregnancy; a different one imagined being employed at a trendy retail outlet as like being stuck in a thriller. By chance, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her journey, she says, has been contemporaries supporting her, as opposed to established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, stating amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”

Rising Success

Those who had doubts about her earlier will certainly be feeling foolish currently. As part of she calls a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she has achieved an ideal role. In 2019 she posted content named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she mocked film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a series about city dwellers juggling the perks of digital stardom (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be easy to make a series about online fame that was overly idealized—or, more problematic, one that mocked at those depicted. This show does neither, making for a representation of privileged millennial life that’s honest 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 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