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Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and right away begins an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, seeming genuinely regretful. Although she's only a bit late, she feels compelled to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, for a writer, this is just what is ideal to hear. Moreover, it’s fairly predictable. Those who know the boldly queer and brash movie Bottoms—that she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in with her friend Ayo Edebiri—would understand that she possesses plenty to share, be it on identity, intimacy, or the pros of starting a youth combat group. Plus, by the end her new seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star has further thoughts on the challenges of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott is an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for bridging millennials and Gen Z).

Influences and Storytelling Approach

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, naming it in addition to the classic series, Insecure and Atlanta as inspirations for the project, which tracks the struggles of online personality Tallulah and her friend and new representative portrayed by Sennott. However, the most significant presence on concept belonged to the popular sitcom, the show depicting an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in a gritty LA scene (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott started watching it during lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.

“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The inspiration for the series came—in part—from firsthand, initially difficult, transition to Tinseltown and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about event for followers. This represented an era that saw her understand major truths, professionally and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Humble Origins

Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott commenced creating and acting comedy while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”

She seized control, performing at live shows with Ayo and posting uproarious (and very) unconventional online content digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed several females obsessively fixated on having babies; a different one imagined working at the brand Hollister as like being trapped in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through campus film circles and eventually starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her career, she explains, has been people her own age supporting her, as opposed to the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, continuing humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Career Breakthrough

Those who had doubts about her earlier will certainly be feeling foolish currently. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” development, she appears to created the perfect project. A few years back she uploaded a video titled about Los Angeles on social media, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a comedy about city dwellers managing advantages of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your client being suspected of being a drug-addled thief, and possibly becoming a unreliable persona non grata). It would be simple to create a series about internet celebrity that was horribly glamorous—or, worse, one that belittled at those depicted. This show steers clear of each, making for a depiction of privileged twentysomething life that’s honest about the chaos 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 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