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Rachel Sennott joins the video call and right away begins an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, sounding truly apologetic. She is only slightly late, she wants to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is just what one hopes to experience. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Anyone who know her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—which she penned with her creative partner and appeared in together with collaborator The Bear’s standout—can be aware that she has plenty to discuss, ranging from on roles, sex, or the pros of starting a high-school combat group. Plus, by the end her latest multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds even more thoughts on the struggles of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott is an honorary member of the gang, on the cusp adept for straddling millennials and Gen Z).

Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach

The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress is enthusiastic, naming it in addition to the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as influences for her series, which details the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also aspiring representative Maia. Notably, the most significant spot on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, that show depicting an emerging celebrity navigating in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it during the pandemic, became “hooked”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The inspiration for this project came—in part—from her own, originally fractious, transition to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed phenomenon for followers. This represented a phase that involved her learn major life lessons, in her career and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “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

Raised in New England, the star began writing and performing stand-up while studying acting at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”

She took matters into her own hands, appearing at live shows with Edebiri and uploading uproarious (and very) weird online content on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, followed several females intensely obsessed with motherhood; a different one envisioned working at the brand Hollister as similar to being caught in a horror film. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and ended up starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her path, she explains, has been peers offering opportunities, instead of traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, adding humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Career Breakthrough

Those who questioned regarding her previously will likely be kicking themselves now. As part of she calls a “wild, full-circle” development, she has created an ideal role. Previously she posted content titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about LA residents balancing benefits of internet fame (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your associate being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and possibly becoming a unreliable persona non grata). It would be tempting to make a program about internet celebrity that was overly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at its subjects. The series steers clear of each, resulting in a portrait of privileged twentysomething living that’s candid about the mess and the shine.

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