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Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and right away starts an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming really regretful. Although she's only a couple of minutes behind, she needs to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s just what you want to encounter. Moreover, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone familiar with her fearlessly queer and brash film titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and appeared in with close companion Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that Sennott possesses plenty to discuss, whether about roles, sex, or the appeal of creating a youth fight club. Plus, after watching her latest seasonal HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds even more thoughts on the challenges of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott serves as an honorary member of the gang, on the cusp adept for bridging millennials and Gen Z).

Influences and Artistic Direction

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress admits to being an admirer, referencing the show in addition to the classic series, Insecure and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which follows the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and aspiring agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest influence on creative vision went to the HBO series, the show depicting an up-and-coming celebrity succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it during the pandemic, became “captivated”, and resolved to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The concept for the series emerged—partly—from her own, at first fractious, move to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about occurrence for followers. It was an era that saw her learn major truths, work-wise and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Humble Origins

Raised in Connecticut, the star commenced developing and showcasing humor while studying acting at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “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 live shows with her friend and sharing hilarious (and decidedly) bizarre comedy videos on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted characters intensely obsessed with having babies; a different one portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her journey, she explains, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she repeats, continuing with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”

Rising Success

Individuals who had doubts about her earlier will likely be kicking themselves currently. As part of she describes as a “incredibly circular” story, she seems to have achieved the perfect project. A few years back she shared a video called on LA life online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a series about Angelenos managing the perks of digital stardom (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and perhaps becoming a unreliable outcast). One might simple to create a show about online fame that was horribly idealized—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. This show steers clear of each, creating a representation of privileged millennial living that’s honest about the chaos and the appeal.

Empathetic Approach

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