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Rachel Sennott joins the video call and right away begins an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, sounding truly regretful. She is only slightly behind, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, in this context, this is exactly what is ideal to experience. Besides, it’s pretty predictable. Those familiar with her unapologetically queer and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—that she penned with Emma Seligman and featured in with close companion the talented actress—will understand that she has a lot to say, ranging from on identity, sex, or the merits of starting a teen brawl society. Furthermore, by the end her new multi-episode program I Love LA, it is clear that she carries further insights on the challenges of modern youth (At 30, Sennott is a bridge for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting different age groups).

Inspirations and Storytelling Approach

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress admits to being a fan, citing it together with the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as influences for her series, which follows the travails of online personality Tallulah and her friend and new representative Maia. However, the biggest spot on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, the show depicting a rising celebrity navigating in an often-seedy entertainment industry (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it amid COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and chose to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“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 emerged—partly—from firsthand, at first rocky, transition to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a much-talked-about phenomenon for astrology heads. This represented a time that saw her grasp some big insights, work-wise and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Humble Origins

Raised in Connecticut, the star commenced writing and performing humor while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”

She seized control, performing at amateur nights with Edebiri and posting hilarious (and very) bizarre skits online. One, Baby Cult, depicted several females fetishistically fixated on having babies; another envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being trapped in a thriller. By chance, she met Seligman through campus film circles and ended up starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a religious event with shades of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her journey, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, rather than the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Career Breakthrough

Anyone who had doubts regarding Sennott then will likely be kicking themselves currently. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she appears to achieved her dream vehicle. Previously she shared content titled on LA life on the internet, in which she lampooned film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a show about LA residents managing the perks of internet fame (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being suspected of being a drug-addled criminal, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). Some could easy to make a series about online fame that was overly aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at its subjects. This show steers clear of each, making for a representation of privileged twentysomething living that’s frank about the mess and the appeal.

Nuanced Portrayal

“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