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Rachel Sennott appears on the online meeting and immediately begins an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, appearing genuinely regretful. Although she's only a bit behind, she wants to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is exactly what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s fairly predictable. Those familiar with her boldly openly gay and outspoken movie Bottoms—that she co-wrote with her creative partner and starred in alongside her friend The Bear’s standout—will already know that she possesses much to say, be it about roles, intimacy, or the pros of forming a high-school fight club. Plus, once you finish the recent multi-episode program I Love LA, it is clear that the star carries further insights about the challenges of modern youth (At 30, she represents a bridge to younger audiences, straddling eras skilled for connecting millennials and Gen Z).

Inspirations and Artistic Direction

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, citing it together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for her series, which details the travails of online personality Tallulah and close companion who is also fledgling agent Maia. However, the biggest presence on concept belonged to the popular sitcom, that HBO sitcom about a rising Hollywood star navigating in a gritty LA scene (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it throughout the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The idea for this project originated—to some extent—from firsthand, originally fractious, relocation to LA and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about occurrence for astrology heads. That period marked a time that saw her grasp significant life lessons, professionally and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Early Beginnings

Brought up in New England, the star began writing and performing stand-up while studying 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.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”

Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at open mics with Edebiri and posting hysterical (and decidedly) bizarre skits online. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted characters obsessively fixated on pregnancy; a different one envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being stuck in a thriller. By chance, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and ended up featuring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a funeral gathering with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her career, she notes, has been peers giving her a shot, instead of established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”

Manifesting Dreams

Those who had doubts about Sennott previously will likely be feeling foolish now. As part of she calls a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted a clip titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a show about city dwellers balancing the perks of internet fame (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being suspected of being a drug-addled thief, and perhaps becoming a risky persona non grata). Some could tempting to produce a program about digital influence that was extremely aspirational—or, more problematic, one that belittled at its subjects. This show does neither, resulting in a portrait of advantaged millennial living that’s frank about the grot and the glamour.

Empathetic Approach

“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