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Rachel Sennott appears on the video call and right away launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, sounding genuinely remorseful. Although she's only a bit delayed, she wants to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is exactly what is ideal to encounter. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Those who know her fearlessly openly gay and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—which she collaborated on with her creative partner and featured in together with collaborator The Bear’s standout—would already know that Sennott holds a lot to share, whether about gender, sex, or the merits of starting a high-school combat group. Plus, by the end the new seasonal show I Love LA, it is clear that she carries further thoughts regarding the darker side of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott is an honorary member for this generation, a tale-end millennial adept for straddling millennials and Gen Z).

Influences and Creative Vision

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott admits to being an admirer, citing it together with the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for the project, which follows the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and her friend and aspiring representative portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the largest spot on concept belonged to the popular sitcom, the program focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star navigating in a gritty LA scene (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it throughout the pandemic, became “captivated”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective 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 concept for I Love LA originated—in part—from personal, initially difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed event for followers. That period marked an era that included her understand major insights, in her career and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Starting Out

Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott started developing and showcasing stand-up while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

She decided to act independently, taking the stage at live shows with Ayo and sharing hilarious (and very) bizarre skits on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed several females intensely drawn to having babies; a different one imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being caught in a horror film. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a Jewish wake with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her career, she notes, has been people her own age giving her a shot, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Rising Success

Anyone who were skeptical about her earlier will surely be kicking themselves currently. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” development, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. Previously she uploaded content called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a comedy about city dwellers balancing benefits of internet fame (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and potentially becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be easy to produce a series about internet celebrity that was overly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at those depicted. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a representation of affluent millennial life that’s frank about the chaos and the shine.

Balanced Perspective

“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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