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Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and immediately begins an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming truly apologetic. She is only a bit late, she wants to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is just what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s fairly predictable. Viewers familiar with her fearlessly queer and outspoken movie Bottoms—that she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside close companion Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that Sennott has much to share, whether about roles, relationships, or the pros of creating a youth fight club. Plus, once you finish her latest multi-episode show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star carries further perspectives regarding the struggles of modern youth (Now in her thirties, she is a relatable figure of the gang, straddling eras with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).

Inspirations and Storytelling Approach

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, referencing the show alongside the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as influences for the project, which tracks the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and aspiring agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest presence on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, the HBO sitcom focusing on a rising A-list actor succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it throughout the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist 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 idea for this project came—in part—from her own, at first difficult, move to LA and from the cosmic event, a popular phenomenon for followers. This represented an era that included her grasp major insights, work-wise and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Starting Out

Brought up in New England, Sennott started developing and showcasing comedy while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”

Sennott took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at amateur nights with Ayo and posting uproarious (and decidedly) unconventional skits online. One, Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively obsessed with motherhood; another envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as like being caught in a scary movie. By chance, she met Emma through campus film circles and ultimately starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of the intense thriller. The central motif of her path, she notes, has been people her own age giving her a shot, instead of the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, stating humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Career Breakthrough

Anyone who had doubts regarding Sennott earlier will certainly be kicking themselves now. As part of she calls a “wild, full-circle” development, she has achieved the perfect project. Previously she shared a video named on LA life on social media, in which she lampooned film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a series about city dwellers managing benefits of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being labeled as being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a risky persona non grata). Some could simple to make a program about digital influence that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at its subjects. This show steers clear of each, creating a portrait of privileged young adult life that’s candid about the mess and the glamour.

Nuanced Portrayal

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