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Rachel Sennott joins the online meeting and immediately starts an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, sounding truly regretful. Despite being only a bit delayed, she feels compelled to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is precisely what you want to experience. Moreover, it’s fairly predictable. Viewers familiar with the boldly openly gay and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—that she co-wrote with the director and featured in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that Sennott has much to say, whether on gender, intimacy, or the pros of creating a youth brawl society. And, after watching her new multi-episode show I Love LA, viewers realize that she has additional insights regarding the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott is a relatable figure for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for bridging both generations).

Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, citing it together with Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and her friend who is also new agent portrayed by Sennott. However, the largest presence on creative vision went to the popular sitcom, the show about a rising A-list actor making his way in a gritty Hollywood (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it amid lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.

“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The concept for this project originated—in part—from firsthand, at first difficult, move to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a popular event for astrology heads. It was a phase that involved her understand some big insights, professionally and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Humble Origins

Raised in Connecticut, Sennott commenced developing and showcasing comedy while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at open mics with her friend and sharing hilarious (and very) bizarre skits digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted characters intensely drawn to motherhood; another imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being stuck in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through campus film circles and ultimately featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a religious event with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her career, she says, has been contemporaries supporting her, rather than the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Career Breakthrough

Anyone who were skeptical regarding her previously will certainly be regretting it now. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” development, she seems to have created an ideal role. A few years back she uploaded a video titled on LA life on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a comedy about LA residents juggling advantages of internet fame (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). Some could simple to make a series about internet celebrity that was overly idealized—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. The series steers clear of each, making for a depiction of privileged young adult living that’s candid about the chaos and the glamour.

Nuanced Portrayal

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