Rachel Sennott discussing her side-splitting show depicting that messy glamour of Gen Z lifestyle

The performer enters the digital interview and right away launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing really apologetic. Despite being only a couple of minutes late, she feels compelled to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, in this context, this is exactly what you want to encounter. Moreover, it’s pretty expected. Those familiar with the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and brash project titled Bottoms—which she collaborated on with the director and featured in alongside close companion Ayo Edebiri—would already know that she holds plenty to discuss, whether on roles, intimacy, or the pros of starting a high-school fight club. Plus, after watching the latest eight-part HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that she has even more perspectives regarding the darker side of Gen Z life (At 30, Sennott is an honorary member to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial skilled for straddling both generations).

Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and Sennott admits to being a fan, citing it in addition to the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for her series, which tracks the journey of online personality Tallulah and ally who is also aspiring agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the most significant presence on the moodboard was reserved for Entourage, that program focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star navigating in a corrupt entertainment industry (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it amid the pandemic, became “hooked”, and decided to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.

“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The idea for I Love LA originated—in part—from personal, at first rocky, move to LA and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed phenomenon for enthusiasts. It was an era that saw her learn significant insights, professionally and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” 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…”

Humble Origins

Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott started writing and performing comedy while studying theatre 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. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”

She took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with Ayo and uploading hilarious (and distinctly) unconventional online content on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically obsessed with motherhood; another portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a horror film. Interestingly, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a Jewish wake with shades of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her path, she notes, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”

Manifesting Dreams

Those who questioned regarding Sennott then will surely be kicking themselves today. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” development, she has created the perfect project. Previously she posted a clip titled “it’s LA” online, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a show about LA residents managing the perks of digital stardom (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your client being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and perhaps becoming a risky pariah). One might simple to produce a show about online fame that was overly glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at those depicted. The series does neither, resulting in a depiction of affluent millennial living that’s frank about the chaos 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