Rachel Sennott on her hilarious series portraying that chaotic appeal of Gen Z life

The star enters the video call and at once starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, seeming truly apologetic. She is only a couple of minutes late, she feels compelled to justify. “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, that’s exactly what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s quite unsurprising. Anyone who have seen the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and appeared in with close companion Ayo Edebiri—will already know that Sennott possesses much to discuss, ranging from about roles, sex, or the appeal of creating a teen combat group. Furthermore, after watching the new multi-episode show titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star has additional thoughts on the challenges of young adulthood (At 30, she is a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp skilled for straddling both generations).

Inspirations and Creative Vision

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, naming it alongside Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as guides for the project, which follows the struggles of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also aspiring representative Maia. However, the biggest presence on the moodboard was reserved for Entourage, that HBO sitcom about a rising Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She started watching it amid lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The concept for I Love LA came—to some extent—from personal, initially difficult, relocation to LA and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. That period marked a phase that involved her learn some big insights, professionally and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Starting Out

Brought up in the East Coast, the star commenced writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “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?”

Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at amateur nights with her friend and posting hilarious (and distinctly) unconventional skits digitally. One, Baby Cult, depicted characters fetishistically obsessed with pregnancy; a different one portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being trapped in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a funeral gathering with echoes of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her career, she notes, has been people her own age giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she repeats, stating amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”

Rising Success

Individuals who had doubts about her then will surely be kicking themselves currently. As part of she labels a “astonishingly complete” development, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded a clip called “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about LA residents juggling the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being suspected of being a intoxicated thief, and perhaps becoming a unreliable outcast). One might tempting to produce a program about digital influence that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that mocked at those depicted. The series does neither, resulting in a portrait of advantaged millennial existence that’s candid about the mess and the appeal.

Empathetic Approach

“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