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Rachel Sennott appears on the online meeting and right away begins an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, seeming really apologetic. She is only a bit delayed, she needs to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s exactly what is ideal to hear. Moreover, it’s quite predictable. Those familiar with her fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—which she co-wrote with her creative partner and appeared in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—would understand that Sennott holds much to say, be it on gender, intimacy, or the merits of creating a teen combat group. Furthermore, by the end the recent multi-episode show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds additional perspectives regarding the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she is a bridge to younger audiences, on the cusp with a knack for connecting both generations).

Influences and Creative Vision

The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott is a fan, referencing the show together with the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for her series, which tracks the struggles of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the largest presence on creative vision belonged to the popular sitcom, that program about a rising celebrity making his way in a corrupt entertainment industry (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott started watching it amid the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The concept for I Love LA came—to some extent—from her own, at first fractious, transition to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed event for astrology heads. That period marked a time that included her grasp significant truths, in her career and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “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 New England, the star commenced developing and showcasing stand-up while studying performance at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” 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.”

Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at open mics with her friend and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) bizarre comedy videos digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; another envisioned being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being trapped in a thriller. By chance, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her career, she explains, has been peers supporting her, instead of established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”

Manifesting Dreams

Those who questioned about Sennott then will likely be feeling foolish today. Through she describes as a “astonishingly complete” development, she appears to achieved the perfect project. Previously she uploaded a video named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a comedy about city dwellers juggling benefits of internet fame (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled thief, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be easy to create a series about digital influence that was overly idealized—or, worse, one that mocked at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, creating a portrait of privileged young adult existence that’s candid 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 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