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Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and immediately begins an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, sounding truly remorseful. She is only a couple of minutes late, she feels compelled to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s exactly what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s quite expected. Viewers who have seen her fearlessly openly gay and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with her creative partner and starred in together with close companion Ayo Edebiri—would understand that she has much to share, ranging from on roles, intimacy, or the merits of forming a youth fight club. Furthermore, after watching the recent eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that the star has even more perspectives regarding the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she is a relatable figure for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for straddling different age groups).

Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being a fan, referencing it together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as influences for I Love LA, which details the journey of a social media star Tallulah and ally and fledgling representative Sennott’s character. Notably, the biggest influence on concept belonged to the popular sitcom, the show depicting a rising celebrity navigating in an often-seedy LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott began viewing it during lockdown, became “hooked”, and resolved 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 notes. The concept for this project emerged—partly—from firsthand, originally rocky, relocation to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. That period marked a phase that saw her learn major life lessons, work-wise and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Starting Out

Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott started writing and performing stand-up while studying performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” 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.”

Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at amateur nights with Edebiri and sharing hysterical (and distinctly) weird skits online. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women intensely obsessed with motherhood; a different one envisioned working at the brand Hollister as akin to being trapped in a horror film. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through campus film circles and eventually starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her career, she says, has been people her own age supporting her, rather than traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, adding amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Rising Success

Individuals who had doubts about Sennott previously will likely be kicking themselves currently. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she has manifested an ideal role. In 2019 she posted a video titled on LA life on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a show about city dwellers managing the perks of internet fame (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being labeled as being a substance-abusing criminal, and possibly becoming a risky persona non grata). It would be easy to produce a show about online fame that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA steers clear of each, creating a portrait of privileged millennial life that’s frank about the chaos and the shine.

Empathetic Approach

“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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