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Rachel Sennott appears on the video call and immediately begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, sounding truly regretful. Despite being 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!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is just what you want to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Viewers who know the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—which she collaborated on with her creative partner and featured in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—will be aware that she holds a lot to say, ranging from about identity, sex, or the appeal of forming a youth combat group. Plus, once you finish her recent multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds additional thoughts about the struggles of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she is an honorary member to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling both generations).

Inspirations and Creative Vision

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, naming the show in addition to the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for the project, which details the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and close companion who is also aspiring representative Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the biggest spot on the moodboard was reserved for the HBO series, the HBO sitcom depicting an up-and-coming A-list actor making his way in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it amid lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose 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 inspiration for I Love LA originated—partly—from firsthand, initially rocky, transition to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about occurrence for enthusiasts. That period marked an era that involved her learn some big insights, in her career and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “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

Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott started writing and performing humor while pursuing theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “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?”

She took matters into her own hands, performing at open mics with Ayo and posting hilarious (and distinctly) weird comedy videos online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed several females obsessively obsessed with pregnancy; another envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up appearing in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her path, she notes, has been peers supporting her, as opposed to traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, stating amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Rising Success

Individuals who were skeptical regarding Sennott earlier will certainly be feeling foolish now. As part of she labels a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she appears to created an ideal role. A few years back she uploaded a clip named about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she lampooned film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a series about LA residents balancing benefits of online celebrity (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being labeled as being a substance-abusing stealer, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). Some could simple to make a show about internet celebrity that was overly glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at its subjects. The series avoids both, resulting in a depiction of advantaged twentysomething living that’s honest about the grot and the appeal.

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 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