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Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and right away starts an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, sounding genuinely regretful. She is only a bit late, 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!” Thankfully, in this context, this is precisely what you want to experience. Moreover, it’s fairly expected. Those who have seen her unapologetically queer and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside her friend The Bear’s standout—would understand that she possesses plenty to discuss, ranging from on identity, relationships, or the pros of creating a high-school brawl society. Plus, once you finish the new seasonal show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star carries additional perspectives on the darker side of Gen Z life (At 30, Sennott serves as an honorary member of the gang, straddling eras skilled for straddling millennials and Gen Z).

Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being an admirer, citing it in addition to the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as guides for her series, which tracks the travails of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and fledgling representative Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the biggest spot on concept belonged to the HBO series, the program focusing on an emerging A-list actor making his way in a gritty LA scene (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it during COVID-19, became “captivated”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.

“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The idea for this project came—to some extent—from her own, at first rocky, move to Tinseltown and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about occurrence for astrology heads. That period marked a time that saw her understand major life lessons, in her career and in private life. “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 …”

Humble Origins

Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott began developing and showcasing stand-up while pursuing performance at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “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, taking the stage at amateur nights with Edebiri and uploading hilarious (and decidedly) bizarre online content online. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women intensely fixated on motherhood; another imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and ultimately starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her path, she says, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, continuing with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Manifesting Dreams

Anyone who had doubts about her previously will surely be feeling foolish now. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she seems to have created an ideal role. In 2019 she shared a video called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a series about city dwellers balancing advantages of online celebrity (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being accused of being a substance-abusing thief, and possibly becoming a unreliable persona non grata). One might tempting to make a series about internet celebrity that was extremely idealized—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at the characters. This show avoids both, resulting in a portrait of advantaged millennial existence that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.

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 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