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Rachel Sennott joins the video call and immediately launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, appearing genuinely apologetic. Despite being only slightly late, she feels compelled to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, in this context, this is just what you want to hear. Besides, it’s fairly unsurprising. Those who know her fearlessly openly gay and outspoken film Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with the director and featured in with close companion the talented actress—will already know that she possesses plenty to share, ranging from about identity, intimacy, or the appeal of forming a teen brawl society. And, by the end her latest eight-part program I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries even more insights regarding the challenges of young adulthood (As a millennial, she represents a relatable figure for this generation, a tale-end millennial adept for straddling both generations).

Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach

Likenesses to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, naming it alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as inspirations for the project, which follows the journey of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also fledgling agent portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the largest influence on concept went to the popular sitcom, that program depicting an up-and-coming celebrity navigating in an often-seedy entertainment industry (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott began viewing it amid the pandemic, became “hooked”, and resolved 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 explains. The idea for this project originated—partly—from firsthand, initially fractious, relocation to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a popular occurrence for followers. That period marked a phase that involved her understand some big insights, work-wise and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “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…”

Starting Out

Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced developing and showcasing comedy while studying acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

She took matters into her own hands, performing at open mics with Ayo and sharing hilarious (and distinctly) unconventional online content digitally. One, Baby Cult, followed several females obsessively obsessed with motherhood; a different one imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through campus film circles and ended up appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, as opposed to traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Manifesting Dreams

Individuals who had doubts about her previously will certainly be kicking themselves today. As part of she describes as a “incredibly circular” story, she has created her dream vehicle. In 2019 she shared content titled on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a show about city dwellers juggling the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being labeled as being a substance-abusing stealer, and possibly becoming a risky pariah). It would be tempting to create a program about digital influence that was overly aspirational—or, worse, one that mocked at the characters. This show does neither, resulting in a representation of affluent millennial existence that’s candid about the mess and the shine.

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 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