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Rachel Sennott appears on the video call and immediately starts an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, appearing genuinely apologetic. Despite being only a couple of minutes delayed, she wants to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, during an interview, that’s just what you want to encounter. Additionally, it’s quite unsurprising. Anyone familiar with her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and outspoken movie Bottoms—which she collaborated on with the director and starred in alongside her friend the talented actress—can understand that she holds much to discuss, be it on gender, intimacy, or the merits of starting a youth combat group. And, after watching her latest multi-episode HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries even more thoughts about the struggles of Gen Z life (At 30, she serves as a bridge of the gang, a tale-end millennial adept for connecting both generations).

Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being an admirer, citing it in addition to the classic series, Insecure and the innovative program as guides for the project, which follows the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also aspiring talent manager Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the biggest presence on the moodboard was reserved for Entourage, that show depicting an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in a corrupt LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it during the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose 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 inspiration for the series came—partly—from her own, originally difficult, move to LA and from the saturn return, a much-talked-about occurrence for astrology heads. It was a phase that involved her learn major truths, work-wise and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” 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 resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Humble Origins

Growing up in New England, Sennott started creating and acting stand-up while enrolled in performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. 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 took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at live shows with Ayo and posting uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre comedy videos on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively drawn to motherhood; another portrayed being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being stuck in a horror film. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually featuring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the intense thriller. The big theme of her career, she notes, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, stating with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”

Career Breakthrough

Individuals who had doubts about her then will likely be feeling foolish now. Through she calls a “astonishingly complete” development, she seems to have created an ideal role. A few years back she uploaded a video titled about Los Angeles on social media, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a show about LA residents juggling the perks of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being labeled as being a intoxicated criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). Some could tempting to produce a program about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at the characters. The series avoids both, resulting in a portrait of advantaged young adult life that’s honest about the mess and the shine.

Empathetic Approach

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