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Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and immediately launches into an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely remorseful. She is only a bit behind, she needs to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is precisely what one hopes to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Anyone who have seen her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside close companion Ayo Edebiri—can be aware that she possesses much to say, whether on identity, sex, or the appeal of creating a teen combat group. Plus, once you finish the recent eight-part HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds additional thoughts on the challenges of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott represents a relatable figure for this generation, a tale-end millennial adept for straddling millennials and Gen Z).

Influences and Artistic Direction

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott is an admirer, referencing the show alongside Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the journey of online personality Tallulah and close companion and fledgling representative portrayed by Sennott. However, the largest influence on creative vision went to the HBO series, the HBO sitcom depicting a rising A-list actor navigating in a gritty Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it during lockdown, became “captivated”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The idea for the series came—partly—from her own, at first rocky, relocation to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a popular event for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that saw her learn some big insights, work-wise and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Humble Origins

Brought up in the East Coast, the star started writing and performing humor while pursuing performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” 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.”

She took matters into her own hands, appearing at live shows with her friend and uploading uproarious (and very) bizarre comedy videos on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, followed characters intensely drawn to pregnancy; another imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through campus film circles and eventually starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her career, she says, has been peers giving her a shot, rather than traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, adding humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Career Breakthrough

Individuals who had doubts about Sennott previously will surely be feeling foolish currently. As part of she describes as a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she seems to have created the perfect project. Previously she posted a clip titled about Los Angeles on social media, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a series about LA residents balancing the perks of internet fame (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being suspected of being a drug-addled criminal, and perhaps becoming a risky pariah). Some could tempting to create a series about internet celebrity that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that punched down at the characters. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a portrait of advantaged twentysomething living that’s honest about the mess 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