The actress and writer on the uproarious comedy portraying that chaotic allure of Gen Z lifestyle

Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and immediately launches into an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, appearing really apologetic. Despite being only a bit late, she feels compelled to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is precisely what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Viewers familiar with the fearlessly openly gay and brash project titled Bottoms—that Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside her friend the talented actress—can already know that Sennott holds plenty to discuss, whether on identity, relationships, or the pros of starting a youth fight club. Furthermore, once you finish her recent seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds even more thoughts about the struggles of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott is a bridge of the gang, on the cusp with a knack for connecting different age groups).

Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress is enthusiastic, naming the show together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as guides for the project, which follows the struggles of online personality Tallulah and ally who is also fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the biggest spot on creative vision was reserved for the HBO series, the show focusing on an up-and-coming celebrity making his way in an often-seedy Hollywood (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it amid COVID-19, became “captivated”, and decided to put her own twist 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 I Love LA emerged—to some extent—from personal, originally fractious, relocation to LA and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about event for followers. That period marked an era that involved her understand major insights, in her career and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Humble Origins

Raised in the East Coast, Sennott began creating and acting humor while studying performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “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 seized control, performing at amateur nights with Ayo and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) bizarre skits digitally. One, Baby Cult, followed characters intensely drawn to motherhood; a different one imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a horror film. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the intense thriller. The big theme of her career, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, as opposed to traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, continuing with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Rising Success

Those who had doubts regarding her then will certainly be kicking themselves today. As part of she calls a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she appears to manifested an ideal role. In 2019 she shared a clip called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a series about Angelenos juggling the perks of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being accused of being a substance-abusing thief, and possibly becoming a risky persona non grata). Some could easy to create a program about internet celebrity that was extremely aspirational—or, more problematic, one that punched down at the characters. I Love LA steers clear of each, making for a depiction of affluent millennial life that’s frank about the mess and the shine.

Nuanced Portrayal

“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

Victoria Lane
Victoria Lane

Data scientist and BI consultant with over a decade of experience in transforming raw data into actionable business insights.