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Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and right away begins an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, seeming genuinely regretful. She is only a bit delayed, she wants to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is precisely what one hopes to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty predictable. Those who have seen her boldly queer and outspoken project Bottoms—that she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and featured in together with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—will already know that she has much to say, be it on identity, relationships, or the pros of forming a teen brawl society. Plus, once you finish the latest multi-episode program titled I Love LA, it is clear that she has even more thoughts regarding the darker side of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she serves as a bridge for this generation, straddling eras adept for bridging millennials and Gen Z).

Influences and Artistic Direction

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress admits to being a fan, naming the show together with the HBO hit, Insecure and Atlanta as influences for her series, which details the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and close companion who is also new talent manager Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the most significant spot on the moodboard went to the popular sitcom, the HBO sitcom depicting an up-and-coming celebrity navigating in an often-seedy LA scene (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it amid COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and decided to put her own twist 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 says. The concept for this project emerged—in part—from personal, initially rocky, relocation to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for followers. That period marked a phase that involved her understand major life lessons, in her career and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Starting Out

Growing up in the East Coast, the star began developing and showcasing humor while pursuing theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” 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 seized control, appearing at open mics with Ayo and posting uproarious (and distinctly) weird skits on the internet. One, Baby Cult, depicted characters obsessively drawn to pregnancy; a different one envisioned working at the brand Hollister as like being stuck in a horror film. By chance, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up appearing in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a religious event with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her career, she explains, has been peers supporting her, as opposed to established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, stating humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Rising Success

Individuals who were skeptical regarding Sennott then will certainly be feeling foolish now. Through she describes as a “astonishingly complete” development, she appears to manifested an ideal role. A few years back she shared a clip titled on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a comedy about city dwellers juggling the perks of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your associate being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and potentially becoming a unreliable pariah). One might easy to create a program about internet celebrity that was overly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA avoids both, creating a depiction of privileged millennial existence that’s candid about the mess and the shine.

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 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