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Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and at once launches into an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, seeming truly remorseful. Despite being only a bit behind, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is precisely what you want to hear. Moreover, it’s fairly expected. Viewers who know the boldly queer and brash movie Bottoms—which Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside close companion the talented actress—can understand that Sennott has plenty to say, ranging from about gender, relationships, or the merits of forming a high-school brawl society. And, after watching the latest eight-part show I Love LA, viewers realize that the star holds further perspectives regarding the challenges of young adulthood (As a millennial, she is a relatable figure of the gang, on the cusp adept for bridging millennials and Gen Z).

Guiding Lights and Creative Vision

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, referencing the show in addition to Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for the project, which follows the journey of an influencer Tallulah and her friend and new agent portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the biggest spot on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, the HBO sitcom focusing on an emerging Hollywood star navigating in an often-seedy LA scene (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it during COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.

“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The inspiration for this project emerged—in part—from firsthand, originally fractious, transition to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about occurrence for enthusiasts. This represented a phase that included her grasp some big life lessons, in her career and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Early Beginnings

Brought up in New England, the star started writing and performing stand-up while pursuing acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” 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. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

Sennott took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and posting hysterical (and very) weird comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; a different one envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being trapped in a thriller. By chance, she connected with Seligman through the university’s film scene and ended up starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her career, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, adding with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”

Rising Success

Those who were skeptical regarding her previously will surely be kicking themselves now. Through she calls a “astonishingly complete” story, she has created the perfect project. In 2019 she shared content called on LA life online, in which she parodied movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a comedy about LA residents balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and possibly becoming a unreliable pariah). One might easy to create a show about digital influence that was horribly idealized—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. This show avoids both, making for a portrait of affluent millennial life that’s candid about the chaos and the glamour.

Nuanced Portrayal

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