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Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and right away starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, sounding really apologetic. She is only slightly behind, she feels compelled to explain. “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 just what you want to encounter. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Those who have seen the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and brash film titled Bottoms—that she penned with her creative partner and appeared in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—can understand that Sennott has a lot to share, whether on roles, relationships, or the pros of starting a high-school brawl society. Plus, after watching the latest eight-part program I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star has further insights about the struggles of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott is a relatable figure for this generation, straddling eras adept for connecting different age groups).

Inspirations and Storytelling Approach

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, citing the show alongside the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as influences for her series, which follows the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and her friend who is also new talent manager Sennott’s character. However, the most significant presence on concept was reserved for the HBO series, the program focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy entertainment industry (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it throughout lockdown, became “captivated”, and decided to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.

“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The idea for I Love LA emerged—partly—from firsthand, originally rocky, relocation to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about event for followers. That period marked an era that saw her learn some big truths, work-wise and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” 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 was almost like these biblical tests …”

Humble Origins

Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott began creating and acting humor while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. 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?”

She decided to act independently, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and uploading uproarious (and very) weird comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted several females fetishistically obsessed with motherhood; a different one portrayed working at the brand Hollister as akin to being caught in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through campus film circles and ended up featuring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a funeral gathering with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her career, she notes, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, rather than established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she repeats, continuing amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Rising Success

Individuals who were skeptical about her previously will likely be regretting it now. As part of she calls a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she seems to have manifested an ideal role. Previously she uploaded content named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about LA residents managing the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and possibly becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be simple to create a series about internet celebrity that was extremely glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at those depicted. I Love LA steers clear of each, making for a representation of privileged millennial existence that’s honest about the chaos and the appeal.

Empathetic Approach

“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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