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Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and right away begins an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, sounding truly apologetic. Although she's only a bit behind, she feels compelled to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, in this context, this is precisely what one hopes to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty predictable. Those who know her fearlessly openly gay and brash film titled Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and starred in with close companion Ayo Edebiri—would already know that Sennott possesses plenty to say, whether about gender, relationships, or the appeal of forming a youth combat group. Plus, once you finish her latest eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star has further perspectives on the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, she is a relatable figure to younger audiences, straddling eras skilled for straddling millennials and Gen Z).

Influences and Artistic Direction

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott admits to being an admirer, citing the show together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as guides for I Love LA, which tracks the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and new agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the most significant presence on the moodboard was reserved for Entourage, the HBO sitcom focusing on an up-and-coming celebrity making his way in a corrupt Hollywood (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it amid lockdown, became “captivated”, 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 explains. The inspiration for I Love LA originated—in part—from firsthand, at first rocky, move to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about occurrence for astrology heads. That period marked an era that involved her learn major truths, in her career and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” 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

Raised in New England, the star began writing and performing stand-up while studying performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

She decided to act independently, taking the stage at amateur nights with Ayo and uploading hysterical (and distinctly) bizarre comedy videos online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed several females intensely drawn to pregnancy; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being caught in a horror film. Interestingly, she met Seligman through campus film circles and eventually starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she says, has been peers giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Manifesting Dreams

Individuals who had doubts regarding her previously will likely be feeling foolish currently. Through she describes as a “wild, full-circle” story, she appears to achieved an ideal role. Previously she shared a clip called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a series about LA residents balancing benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled thief, and potentially becoming a unreliable persona non grata). Some could easy to produce a show about digital influence that was overly glamorous—or, worse, one that belittled at its subjects. The series steers clear of each, making for a depiction of affluent millennial life that’s frank about the mess and the appeal.

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