Rachel Sennott on the side-splitting series about that grotty glamour of Gen Z existence

Rachel Sennott appears on the video call and immediately launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, appearing genuinely remorseful. Although she's only a bit delayed, she wants to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, in this context, this is precisely what one hopes to encounter. Moreover, it’s fairly expected. Those who know her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with the director and featured in alongside her friend the talented actress—will understand that she possesses much to say, ranging from on identity, relationships, or the merits of starting a teen combat group. Furthermore, after watching her latest multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star has even more perspectives on the struggles of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott represents a bridge of the gang, on the cusp skilled for connecting different age groups).

Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction

The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, citing it together with Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for the project, which follows the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also new representative portrayed by Sennott. However, the largest spot on the moodboard was reserved for the HBO series, the show focusing on an up-and-coming celebrity succeeding in an often-seedy LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott started watching it amid lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose to create a new version 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 inspiration for the series emerged—to some extent—from her own, initially difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a popular occurrence for astrology heads. This represented an era that included her grasp some big life lessons, work-wise and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Early Beginnings

Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott began creating and acting comedy while studying theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”

She decided to act independently, performing at open mics with her friend and sharing hysterical (and distinctly) weird skits on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively fixated on having babies; a different one portrayed being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being stuck in a scary movie. Interestingly, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her journey, she says, has been peers offering opportunities, instead of established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”

Career Breakthrough

Individuals who were skeptical about her earlier will surely be kicking themselves now. In what she labels a “wild, full-circle” development, she seems to have created the perfect project. Previously she posted content called on LA life on social media, in which she lampooned film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about city dwellers managing benefits of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being accused of being a intoxicated stealer, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). One might tempting to produce a program about internet celebrity that was overly aspirational—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA steers clear of each, making for a depiction of affluent twentysomething existence that’s frank about the grot and the shine.

Balanced Perspective

“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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