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Rachel Sennott joins the online meeting and immediately starts an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, appearing really apologetic. Although she's only slightly late, she needs to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, during an interview, this is just what you want to hear. Besides, it’s pretty predictable. Those familiar with her fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with the director and starred in alongside collaborator the talented actress—would understand that she holds a lot to discuss, be it about gender, sex, or the appeal of creating a high-school brawl society. Furthermore, once you finish the latest seasonal show I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds even more insights on the challenges of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as an honorary member to younger audiences, straddling eras skilled for straddling millennials and Gen Z).

Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction

Parallels to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress is enthusiastic, referencing it together with the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also aspiring representative Sennott’s character. However, the most significant spot on the moodboard was reserved for the HBO series, the HBO sitcom focusing on an up-and-coming A-list actor navigating in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it amid COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The idea for this project originated—to some extent—from firsthand, at first difficult, move to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about event for followers. This represented a time that included her learn some big truths, in her career and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Humble Origins

Raised in Connecticut, Sennott started writing and performing comedy while studying performance at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”

Sennott seized control, appearing at amateur nights with Ayo and uploading hysterical (and distinctly) unconventional online content digitally. One, Baby Cult, centered on several females intensely drawn to having babies; a different one portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being stuck in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a Jewish wake with hints of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her journey, she explains, has been contemporaries supporting her, instead of traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she repeats, stating with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”

Manifesting Dreams

Individuals who had doubts regarding her previously will likely be feeling foolish currently. As part of she calls a “incredibly circular” development, she has created her dream vehicle. Previously she posted a video titled on LA life online, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about LA residents managing benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being suspected of being a drug-addled thief, and perhaps becoming a risky persona non grata). It would be tempting to produce a program about digital influence that was extremely aspirational—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. I Love LA steers clear of each, resulting in a representation of affluent young adult living that’s honest about the chaos 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 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