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Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and immediately starts an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, appearing really apologetic. She is only slightly late, she feels compelled to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, in this context, this is precisely what one hopes to experience. Besides, it’s pretty unsurprising. Viewers familiar with the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and outspoken project titled Bottoms—which she collaborated on with her creative partner and featured in alongside her friend the talented actress—would be aware that Sennott holds much to discuss, ranging from on roles, relationships, or the appeal of creating a youth fight club. And, after watching the recent seasonal show titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds further perspectives about the struggles of modern youth (At 30, Sennott serves as a relatable figure to younger audiences, straddling eras with a knack for connecting different age groups).

Guiding Lights and Creative Vision

Likenesses to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott is enthusiastic, citing it alongside Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which tracks the struggles of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also new representative Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the largest presence on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, that show depicting an up-and-coming A-list actor making his way in a gritty Hollywood (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She started watching it during COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist 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—to some extent—from firsthand, at first fractious, move to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a much-talked-about occurrence for followers. This represented a phase that saw her understand some big insights, work-wise and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Starting Out

Raised in the East Coast, the star began writing and performing humor while enrolled in acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “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. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”

She seized control, taking the stage at amateur nights with Edebiri and sharing hysterical (and very) weird comedy videos digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; a different one envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a thriller. By chance, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her journey, she explains, has been people her own age giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, adding amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”

Rising Success

Individuals who questioned about her then will likely be regretting it now. In what she describes as a “wild, full-circle” development, she has achieved an ideal role. A few years back she shared content called on LA life on social media, 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 LA residents managing benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being accused of being a drug-addled thief, and perhaps becoming a risky persona non grata). It would be easy to make a program about digital influence that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA steers clear of each, resulting in a depiction of affluent twentysomething life that’s candid about the chaos and the glamour.

Empathetic Approach

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