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Rachel Sennott enters the video call and right away launches into an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, seeming truly remorseful. Although she's only a couple of minutes delayed, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, in this context, this is just what is ideal to hear. Besides, it’s quite unsurprising. Those who have seen her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with the director and featured in with collaborator The Bear’s standout—can already know that Sennott holds plenty to share, ranging from about roles, intimacy, or the pros of creating a teen fight club. And, after watching her latest seasonal HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds additional perspectives on the darker side of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott is a relatable figure of the gang, on the cusp skilled for bridging both generations).

Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress is a fan, naming it together with Sex and the City, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for her series, which details the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and aspiring representative Maia. Perhaps, the biggest presence on the moodboard went to the popular sitcom, that HBO sitcom focusing on an emerging Hollywood star making his way in a corrupt entertainment industry (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it amid lockdown, became “captivated”, and decided 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 notes. The concept for the series originated—in part—from firsthand, originally rocky, relocation to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. This represented a time that included her understand major truths, work-wise and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Humble Origins

Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott started creating and acting stand-up while pursuing theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”

Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at amateur nights with Ayo and posting hysterical (and very) weird online content on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; a different one imagined being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a horror film. By chance, she met Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her path, she says, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, rather than the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she repeats, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Career Breakthrough

Those who questioned about Sennott then will surely be feeling foolish now. As part of she labels a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she appears to created her dream vehicle. Previously she uploaded a video titled about Los Angeles online, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers juggling advantages of internet fame (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being suspected of being a substance-abusing thief, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). It would be simple to produce a program about online fame that was overly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at those depicted. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a portrait of affluent millennial existence that’s candid about the mess and the glamour.

Empathetic Approach

“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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