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Rachel Sennott appears on the online meeting and immediately begins an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, seeming genuinely apologetic. Although she's only slightly delayed, she feels compelled 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!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is just what one hopes to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty unsurprising. Viewers who have seen her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside her friend The Bear’s standout—can already know that she has plenty to discuss, be it on gender, relationships, or the merits of starting a high-school brawl society. Plus, by the end the latest multi-episode HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries further perspectives regarding the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott is an honorary member of the gang, on the cusp skilled for straddling different age groups).

Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott readily acknowledges an admirer, citing the show in addition to Sex and the City, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which tracks the struggles of online personality Tallulah and her friend and fledgling agent portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the largest spot on concept was reserved for the popular sitcom, the HBO sitcom depicting an emerging Hollywood star navigating in a gritty LA scene (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it amid the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The idea for I Love LA came—partly—from firsthand, at first fractious, relocation to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a popular event for astrology heads. That period marked a time that included her learn significant truths, in her career and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Early Beginnings

Raised in the East Coast, Sennott started writing and performing comedy while studying theatre at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “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 seized control, performing at open mics with her friend and uploading uproarious (and very) unconventional online content on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women intensely obsessed with having babies; a different one portrayed being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being stuck in a thriller. By chance, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she explains, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, rather than established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Rising Success

Anyone who had doubts about Sennott previously will certainly be feeling foolish now. As part of she labels a “astonishingly complete” story, she seems to have achieved an ideal role. A few years back she uploaded a clip named on LA life online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a show about Angelenos juggling the perks of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your associate being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and perhaps becoming a unreliable pariah). Some could simple to create a program about digital influence that was extremely idealized—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA does neither, creating a portrait of advantaged young adult living that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.

Nuanced Portrayal

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