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Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and right away starts an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, sounding truly apologetic. She is only slightly late, she wants to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s just what you want to encounter. Besides, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone who have seen her fearlessly queer and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—that Sennott penned with the director and starred in with her friend the talented actress—will already know that she possesses much to share, be it on identity, sex, or the merits of creating a teen brawl society. Plus, after watching her new seasonal show I Love LA, viewers realize that the star carries additional thoughts on the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, she represents a relatable figure for this generation, on the cusp adept for bridging both generations).

Inspirations and Artistic Direction

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott is a fan, referencing it in addition to Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as guides for the project, which details the travails of a social media star Tallulah and ally and fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. However, the most significant influence on the moodboard belonged to Entourage, that program depicting a rising A-list actor navigating in a corrupt LA scene (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The concept for the series emerged—partly—from her own, at first fractious, relocation to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about event for astrology heads. It was an era that saw her learn some big truths, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Humble Origins

Raised in the East Coast, the star started creating and acting humor while studying theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” 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.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

She seized control, performing at amateur nights with her friend and uploading uproarious (and very) unconventional skits online. One, Baby Cult, followed several females intensely drawn to motherhood; another envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as like being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her path, she says, has been contemporaries supporting her, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”

Career Breakthrough

Those who had doubts about Sennott earlier will likely be regretting it currently. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she appears to manifested the perfect project. In 2019 she shared a clip titled about Los Angeles on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a show about Angelenos managing the perks of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your client being suspected of being a drug-addled criminal, and perhaps becoming a unreliable pariah). Some could simple to create a show about online fame that was overly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at its subjects. This show avoids both, resulting in a representation of affluent twentysomething existence that’s candid about the mess and the appeal.

Balanced Perspective

“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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