Rachel Sennott discussing the side-splitting series portraying that chaotic allure of younger generation lifestyle

The star appears on the digital interview and right away starts an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely regretful. She is only a bit behind, she feels compelled to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s precisely what is ideal to experience. Besides, it’s pretty predictable. Viewers who know the fearlessly queer and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and starred in alongside close companion Ayo Edebiri—will understand that Sennott possesses much to share, whether on identity, sex, or the pros of starting a high-school combat group. And, after watching her new multi-episode show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star has additional perspectives on the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a relatable figure of the gang, on the cusp with a knack for straddling both generations).

Inspirations and Storytelling Approach

The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott is enthusiastic, referencing the show alongside Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as inspirations for her series, which follows the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also new talent manager Maia. Perhaps, the largest influence on creative vision belonged to Entourage, the program focusing on a rising celebrity succeeding in a corrupt entertainment industry (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it throughout the pandemic, became “hooked”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The idea for I Love LA came—partly—from firsthand, originally difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a popular phenomenon for followers. That period marked an era that saw her understand major truths, in her career and individually. “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.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Early Beginnings

Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott began writing and performing humor while pursuing acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”

She took matters into her own hands, appearing at amateur nights with Edebiri and uploading hilarious (and very) weird online content online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed several females fetishistically fixated on pregnancy; a different one portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as like being caught in a horror film. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. The central motif of her path, she notes, has been peers supporting her, instead of traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she repeats, stating with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Career Breakthrough

Those who were skeptical about her earlier will certainly be kicking themselves now. As part of she describes as a “incredibly circular” development, she seems to have manifested an ideal role. In 2019 she posted content called about Los Angeles on social media, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a show about LA residents balancing benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing thief, and possibly becoming a risky pariah). It would be easy to produce a show about online fame that was overly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at those depicted. This show does neither, resulting in a depiction of affluent young adult life that’s candid about the chaos and the glamour.

Empathetic Approach

“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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

Heather Griffin
Heather Griffin

A tech journalist with over a decade of experience covering digital transformation and startup ecosystems across Europe.