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Rachel Sennott enters the video call and right away launches into an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, appearing genuinely remorseful. Despite being only slightly behind, she feels compelled to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s just what you want to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Anyone familiar with her unapologetically queer and outspoken film Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside her friend the talented actress—will be aware that Sennott has much to say, whether about identity, relationships, or the appeal of forming a teen brawl society. Plus, once you finish her recent multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that she holds even more perspectives about the challenges of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott represents a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for connecting different age groups).

Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction

The comparisons to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being an admirer, citing it together with the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as influences for the project, which follows the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also new representative Maia. Perhaps, the most significant presence on creative vision was reserved for Entourage, that show focusing on an emerging celebrity succeeding in a corrupt entertainment industry (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it throughout lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose 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 notes. The concept for I Love LA emerged—in part—from her own, initially difficult, move to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a popular event for followers. It was a time that saw her understand significant truths, in her career and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Humble Origins

Brought up in New England, the star commenced developing and showcasing comedy while pursuing acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”

Sennott took matters into her own hands, performing at open mics with her friend and sharing uproarious (and distinctly) unconventional online content digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted characters intensely drawn to pregnancy; another envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as like being stuck in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her path, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, instead of the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Career Breakthrough

Anyone who had doubts about Sennott then will surely be regretting it now. Through she labels a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she has achieved an ideal role. In 2019 she shared content titled “it’s LA” online, in which she parodied movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a show about LA residents managing the perks of internet fame (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being accused of being a intoxicated criminal, and perhaps becoming a risky pariah). It would be tempting to produce a program about internet celebrity that was extremely aspirational—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a depiction of affluent young adult life that’s candid about the mess and the appeal.

Balanced Perspective

“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she says. “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