Rachel Sennott on her uproarious comedy about the grotty allure of Gen Z existence

The star joins the digital interview and immediately starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, seeming really remorseful. Although she's only a bit late, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s precisely what is ideal to experience. Moreover, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone familiar with her boldly LGBTQ+ and brash film Bottoms—which Sennott penned with her creative partner and featured in alongside collaborator The Bear’s standout—will be aware that she has plenty to say, ranging from on gender, sex, or the appeal of creating a high-school brawl society. And, after watching her recent eight-part show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she has further insights regarding the struggles of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott is an honorary member for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for straddling both generations).

Influences and Artistic Direction

Parallels to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and the actress admits to being an admirer, referencing it in addition to the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for the project, which details the travails of a social media star Tallulah and close companion who is also new representative Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the biggest presence on creative vision was reserved for the HBO series, the show depicting a rising celebrity making his way in a corrupt LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott began viewing it during lockdown, became “obsessed”, and decided to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The idea for the series came—in part—from firsthand, at first fractious, transition to LA and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about event for enthusiasts. It was an era that saw her grasp major truths, in her career and individually. “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 was almost like these biblical tests …”

Humble Origins

Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott started writing and performing comedy while studying performance at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. 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, taking the stage at amateur nights with Edebiri and posting hilarious (and decidedly) unconventional online content online. One, titled Baby Cult, followed several females intensely obsessed with motherhood; a different one envisioned being employed at the brand Hollister as akin to being stuck in a horror film. By chance, she encountered Seligman through campus film circles and ended up starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a religious event with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her career, she explains, has been peers offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, continuing amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”

Manifesting Dreams

Those who were skeptical about her then will certainly be feeling foolish now. In what she labels a “wild, full-circle” development, she seems to have created an ideal role. In 2019 she posted a clip named on LA life on the internet, in which she mocked film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a series about city dwellers balancing benefits of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and possibly becoming a unreliable pariah). Some could simple to produce a show about internet celebrity that was extremely glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a depiction of affluent twentysomething life that’s frank about the chaos and the shine.

Nuanced Portrayal

“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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