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Rachel Sennott joins the video call and right away begins an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming genuinely apologetic. Although she's only a bit delayed, she needs to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, in this context, that’s just what one hopes to encounter. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Viewers who have seen the fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—that she penned with her creative partner and appeared in together with close companion The Bear’s standout—would understand that Sennott has much to say, ranging from on gender, sex, or the appeal of creating a youth combat group. Plus, after watching the latest seasonal HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she has further perspectives regarding the struggles of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott represents a bridge for this generation, straddling eras adept for bridging millennials and Gen Z).

Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach

The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress is a fan, naming the show alongside the classic series, Insecure and the innovative program as guides for I Love LA, which details the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and close companion who is also new representative portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the largest spot on the moodboard was reserved for Entourage, the program focusing on a rising celebrity making his way in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it throughout COVID-19, became “hooked”, and decided to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.

“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The inspiration for this project emerged—in part—from personal, originally difficult, transition to LA and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about phenomenon for enthusiasts. That period marked an era that included her grasp some big truths, work-wise and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” 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…”

Early Beginnings

Raised in Connecticut, Sennott commenced writing and performing humor while pursuing performance at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”

Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at amateur nights with Ayo and uploading uproarious (and very) weird online content digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted characters obsessively fixated on having babies; another portrayed being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being caught in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through NYU’s movie community and ultimately featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a religious event with echoes of the intense thriller. The central motif of her career, she says, has been contemporaries supporting her, as opposed to traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”

Career Breakthrough

Individuals who questioned about Sennott earlier will surely be kicking themselves now. In what she labels a “incredibly circular” story, she seems to have achieved an ideal role. In 2019 she shared content called about Los Angeles online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about LA residents balancing benefits of internet fame (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being suspected of being a drug-addled thief, and potentially becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be simple to create a series about online fame that was overly glamorous—or, worse, one that belittled at the characters. This show avoids both, creating a depiction of affluent millennial existence that’s frank about the chaos 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 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