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Rachel Sennott joins the online meeting and immediately begins an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, seeming really apologetic. Although she's only a bit delayed, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, in this context, that’s precisely what you want to hear. Additionally, it’s fairly predictable. Those who have seen the fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with the director and starred in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—would understand that Sennott possesses a lot to discuss, whether about gender, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a high-school combat group. Plus, by the end the recent multi-episode show titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries additional thoughts about the challenges of modern youth (At 30, she represents a bridge of the gang, straddling eras adept for connecting both generations).

Influences and Storytelling Approach

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, naming it in addition to the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as guides for her series, which tracks the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and ally and fledgling representative Maia. Perhaps, the largest presence on creative vision went to the popular sitcom, the program focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star navigating in a gritty Hollywood (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott started watching it during lockdown, became “obsessed”, and decided to create a new version 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 notes. The inspiration for I Love LA emerged—to some extent—from her own, at first difficult, move to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a frequently discussed occurrence for astrology heads. That period marked a phase that included her grasp some big insights, professionally and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Starting Out

Raised in the East Coast, Sennott commenced creating and acting comedy while pursuing acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “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.”

She decided to act independently, appearing at live shows with Ayo and posting hysterical (and distinctly) unconventional comedy videos digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women obsessively fixated on pregnancy; another envisioned working at the brand Hollister as like being trapped in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a religious event with hints of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her journey, she says, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, rather than traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, stating amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”

Rising Success

Anyone who had doubts regarding Sennott previously will surely be regretting it currently. In what she calls a “astonishingly complete” story, she has created her dream vehicle. Previously she shared a clip titled on LA life online, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a series about Angelenos balancing benefits of internet fame (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being labeled as being a substance-abusing stealer, and potentially becoming a risky outcast). Some could tempting to create a series about digital influence that was extremely idealized—or, more problematic, one that punched down at the characters. I Love LA does neither, making for a representation of advantaged young adult existence that’s honest about the chaos and the appeal.

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 comments. “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