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Rachel Sennott appears on the digital interview and immediately launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, sounding really apologetic. Despite being only slightly behind, she wants 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!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s exactly what one hopes to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty unsurprising. Those who know the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and brash film Bottoms—which Sennott penned with the director and appeared in with close companion the talented actress—would already know that she holds a lot to share, ranging from on gender, sex, or the appeal of creating a youth brawl society. Furthermore, after watching her new multi-episode program I Love LA, it is clear that she has even more perspectives regarding the struggles of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott is an honorary member of the gang, straddling eras skilled for straddling millennials and Gen Z).

Inspirations and Artistic Direction

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, citing the show in addition to Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which tracks the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also fledgling agent portrayed by Sennott. However, the largest spot on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, that show focusing on a rising Hollywood star making his way in a corrupt entertainment industry (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it during the pandemic, became “hooked”, and decided to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The inspiration for this project emerged—partly—from her own, initially rocky, relocation to Tinseltown and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about phenomenon for followers. That period marked an era that saw her learn major truths, work-wise and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Starting Out

Raised in Connecticut, Sennott started developing and showcasing comedy while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”

She decided to act independently, performing at amateur nights with Ayo and sharing uproarious (and very) weird online content on the internet. One, Baby Cult, depicted several females intensely obsessed with having babies; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being stuck in a scary movie. By chance, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and eventually starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her journey, she says, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Rising Success

Those who were skeptical regarding Sennott previously will surely be feeling foolish today. As part of she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she appears to achieved the perfect project. A few years back she posted content titled “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a series about Angelenos juggling advantages of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). Some could simple to make a series about online fame that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, creating a portrait of advantaged millennial life that’s candid about the mess and the glamour.

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