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Rachel Sennott appears on the digital interview and immediately starts an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, sounding genuinely remorseful. She is only a bit late, she needs to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, in this context, this is precisely what one hopes to encounter. Additionally, it’s quite unsurprising. Those who know the boldly queer and outspoken project Bottoms—that Sennott penned with her creative partner and starred in with close companion The Bear’s standout—will be aware that she possesses a lot to share, whether about gender, intimacy, or the pros of starting a youth fight club. Plus, once you finish her new eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star carries further perspectives regarding the struggles of young adulthood (As a millennial, she represents a bridge to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial skilled for bridging different age groups).

Inspirations and Creative Vision

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott is enthusiastic, referencing the show in addition to the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for her series, which follows the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also new agent Maia. However, the biggest presence on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, that HBO sitcom about a rising Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty entertainment industry (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She began viewing it during lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist 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 inspiration for the series originated—to some extent—from firsthand, originally difficult, relocation to LA and from her astrological phase, a popular occurrence for followers. It was a time that saw her learn significant life lessons, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Early Beginnings

Brought up in the East Coast, the star commenced writing and performing stand-up while studying theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”

She decided to act independently, performing at open mics with Ayo and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) weird comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women fetishistically fixated on pregnancy; a different one imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through campus film circles and ended up starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her path, she notes, has been peers giving her a shot, rather than traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”

Manifesting Dreams

Anyone who had doubts regarding her previously will surely be kicking themselves today. In what she describes as a “astonishingly complete” development, she seems to have created her dream vehicle. A few years back she shared a clip titled on LA life on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about Angelenos managing advantages of digital stardom (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled thief, and potentially becoming a unreliable pariah). One might simple to make a series about online fame that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that mocked at the characters. The series steers clear of each, resulting in a depiction of affluent twentysomething life that’s honest about the grot and the shine.

Balanced Perspective

“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