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Rachel Sennott joins the video call and at once starts an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, seeming really apologetic. She is only a couple of minutes behind, she wants to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s exactly what one hopes to experience. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Viewers who know the boldly LGBTQ+ and outspoken film titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with the director and starred in with close companion the talented actress—would be aware that Sennott has much to say, ranging from about roles, sex, or the appeal of creating a youth combat group. Plus, once you finish the recent seasonal show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds additional insights on the darker side of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott is an honorary member for this generation, on the cusp adept for bridging different age groups).

Influences and Storytelling Approach

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, naming the show together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which follows the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and aspiring representative portrayed by Sennott. However, the largest spot on concept belonged to Entourage, the HBO sitcom focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star navigating in a gritty entertainment industry (memorable line: “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 “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 explains. The idea for I Love LA originated—to some extent—from her own, at first difficult, relocation to LA and from the cosmic event, a popular event for enthusiasts. It was a time that saw her understand significant life lessons, in her career and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Humble Origins

Growing up in New England, Sennott began developing and showcasing humor while enrolled in theatre at a prestigious arts school. “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. 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 decided to act independently, taking the stage at amateur nights with Edebiri and uploading uproarious (and decidedly) bizarre online content digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted characters obsessively drawn to having babies; another imagined being employed at the brand Hollister as akin to being trapped in a scary movie. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a funeral gathering with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she notes, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, instead of established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Manifesting Dreams

Those who were skeptical regarding Sennott previously will certainly be regretting it today. As part of she labels a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she has manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded a video titled on LA life on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a show about city dwellers managing the perks of digital stardom (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your friend being labeled as being a substance-abusing criminal, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). One might tempting to make a program about online fame that was extremely aspirational—or, worse, one that mocked at the characters. The series avoids both, resulting in a representation of advantaged young adult life that’s frank about the chaos and the appeal.

Balanced Perspective

“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