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Rachel Sennott enters the video call and right away launches into an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, sounding genuinely remorseful. Despite being only slightly 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!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is just what one hopes to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty predictable. Viewers who have seen the fearlessly openly gay and brash project Bottoms—that she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and featured in with her friend The Bear’s standout—would be aware that she holds a lot to share, whether about roles, relationships, or the merits of starting a teen fight club. And, after watching the recent multi-episode show titled I Love LA, it is clear that she carries even more insights regarding the challenges of modern youth (At 30, Sennott represents a relatable figure for this generation, a tale-end millennial adept for straddling both generations).

Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach

Likenesses to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott admits to being a fan, naming the show alongside the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as guides for I Love LA, which follows the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also aspiring agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the biggest spot on the moodboard went to the HBO series, that show about an emerging Hollywood star making his way in a corrupt Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it amid COVID-19, became “captivated”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The idea for the series came—in part—from firsthand, originally fractious, transition to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about occurrence for followers. It was a phase that included her grasp some big insights, in her career and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Early Beginnings

Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced writing and performing stand-up while studying theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

Sennott took matters into her own hands, performing at amateur nights with her friend and uploading hysterical (and decidedly) bizarre comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women intensely obsessed with pregnancy; another portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her path, she explains, has been people her own age supporting her, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, adding amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Career Breakthrough

Individuals who questioned about her earlier will certainly be feeling foolish currently. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she seems to have manifested an ideal role. Previously she shared a clip named about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a comedy about Angelenos balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). Some could tempting to create a series about internet celebrity that was extremely glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA does neither, creating a portrait of advantaged millennial living that’s frank about the mess and the shine.

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 says. “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