The actress and writer exploring her side-splitting comedy depicting the chaotic appeal of Gen Z life

Rachel Sennott enters the video call and right away starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, seeming really remorseful. Despite being only slightly behind, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, in this context, this is just what one hopes to encounter. Moreover, it’s pretty expected. Those who have seen her boldly queer and brash film Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with the director and starred in with close companion The Bear’s standout—can already know that Sennott possesses plenty to discuss, be it on roles, relationships, or the merits of forming a youth brawl society. Furthermore, once you finish the recent multi-episode program I Love LA, viewers realize that the star holds further perspectives about the struggles of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she is a bridge of the gang, on the cusp with a knack for bridging millennials and Gen Z).

Inspirations and Storytelling Approach

The comparisons to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being an admirer, naming it together with the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and her friend and new agent Sennott’s character. However, the most significant spot on creative vision went to the HBO series, that program about an up-and-coming A-list actor succeeding in a gritty LA scene (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it amid lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The concept for the series came—to some extent—from firsthand, initially fractious, move to LA and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about occurrence for enthusiasts. This represented an era that included her understand major life lessons, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “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 the East Coast, the star began creating and acting comedy 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.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

Sennott took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at live shows with Ayo and posting hysterical (and distinctly) bizarre comedy videos online. One, Baby Cult, centered on several females obsessively drawn to having babies; another portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as like being trapped in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the intense thriller. The central motif of her journey, she notes, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she repeats, adding amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”

Career Breakthrough

Those who had doubts about her then will surely be regretting it currently. Through she describes as a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she appears to achieved her dream vehicle. Previously she posted content called on LA life on social media, in which she parodied movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about Angelenos juggling advantages of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and perhaps becoming a risky pariah). Some could tempting to make a program about digital influence that was extremely idealized—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, creating a depiction of advantaged young adult living that’s frank about the grot and the shine.

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

Karen Stokes
Karen Stokes

A passionate writer and journalist based in Prague, sharing stories and perspectives on Czech life and beyond.