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Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and immediately starts an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, seeming really apologetic. Despite being only a bit behind, she needs to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, for a writer, this is exactly what one hopes to experience. Additionally, it’s fairly expected. Those familiar with her fearlessly openly gay and brash movie Bottoms—that she penned with the director and appeared in alongside close companion the talented actress—would understand that she holds much to discuss, be it about identity, sex, or the merits of forming a teen fight club. Plus, after watching the recent eight-part show I Love LA, viewers realize that the star carries even more thoughts on the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott serves as an honorary member of the gang, a tale-end millennial adept for straddling different age groups).

Influences and Artistic Direction

The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress admits to being a fan, citing the show in addition to Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as influences for her series, which tracks the journey of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and aspiring agent Maia. Perhaps, the biggest presence on the moodboard went to Entourage, that show depicting an emerging celebrity succeeding in a gritty entertainment industry (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it during lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The concept for this project originated—in part—from personal, initially difficult, move to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed occurrence for followers. This represented a phase that involved her grasp some big truths, in her career and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” 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

Raised in Connecticut, Sennott began writing and performing stand-up while studying theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “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, taking the stage at amateur nights with her friend and posting hysterical (and decidedly) weird online content online. One, titled Baby Cult, followed characters fetishistically fixated on pregnancy; another portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being caught in a scary movie. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and ended up featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a religious event with echoes of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her journey, she says, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”

Career Breakthrough

Those who had doubts regarding her then will likely be regretting it currently. In what she describes as a “astonishingly complete” development, she has achieved her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted content titled “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a comedy about Angelenos juggling advantages of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your client being suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). One might simple to produce a show about online fame that was overly idealized—or, worse, one that belittled at the characters. The series steers clear of each, creating a portrait of advantaged young adult living that’s frank 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 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