Rachel Sennott on the uproarious series depicting that chaotic allure of today's youth lifestyle

The performer joins the digital interview and immediately begins an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, seeming truly remorseful. She is only a couple of minutes delayed, she feels compelled to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, during an interview, this is exactly what you want to encounter. Besides, it’s fairly expected. Viewers who know her unapologetically openly gay and brash project Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in together with collaborator The Bear’s standout—would be aware that Sennott possesses plenty to discuss, be it on identity, sex, or the appeal of starting a teen brawl society. Plus, once you finish her latest eight-part show I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds additional insights regarding the darker side of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she represents a bridge for this generation, on the cusp skilled for straddling different age groups).

Inspirations and Artistic Direction

Likenesses to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being an admirer, naming the show together with the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as influences for I Love LA, which tracks the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and close companion and fledgling agent Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the most significant influence on concept went to the popular sitcom, that program depicting a rising A-list actor making his way in a corrupt LA scene (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She started watching it amid lockdown, became “obsessed”, and decided to put her own twist 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 concept for the series came—to some extent—from firsthand, at first rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed occurrence for astrology heads. This represented a phase that involved her grasp some big life lessons, work-wise and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “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…”

Early Beginnings

Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott commenced creating and acting comedy while studying theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” 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 her friend and uploading hysterical (and very) weird comedy videos digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women intensely drawn to pregnancy; another imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being stuck in a thriller. By chance, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a religious event with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her career, she notes, has been peers giving her a shot, rather than the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, stating amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Career Breakthrough

Anyone who were skeptical about her earlier will certainly be feeling foolish currently. As part of she calls a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she seems to have achieved the perfect project. A few years back she uploaded content named “it’s LA” online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a show about Angelenos juggling benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your associate being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). Some could simple to produce a program about internet celebrity that was extremely idealized—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. This show avoids both, resulting in a portrait of affluent millennial existence that’s candid about the mess and the glamour.

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 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

Brian Murphy
Brian Murphy

Sports betting analyst with 10+ years experience, specializing in European football odds and data-driven predictions.