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Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and immediately begins an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming genuinely apologetic. Although she's only slightly late, she feels compelled to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is just what you want to experience. Besides, it’s pretty unsurprising. Viewers familiar with her fearlessly queer and outspoken project Bottoms—which she co-wrote with her creative partner and appeared in with her friend Ayo Edebiri—would already know that she holds much to share, ranging from on roles, sex, or the merits of creating a teen fight club. Furthermore, after watching her recent seasonal HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that she has even more perspectives regarding the struggles of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a relatable figure for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for straddling both generations).

Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction

The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress readily acknowledges enthusiastic, referencing it alongside the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as guides for the project, which tracks the struggles of online personality Tallulah and ally and new representative portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the biggest spot on concept belonged to the HBO series, that HBO sitcom focusing on an up-and-coming A-list actor navigating in a gritty Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it amid the pandemic, became “captivated”, and chose to put her own twist 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 says. The concept for this project emerged—to some extent—from firsthand, initially rocky, move to LA and from the saturn return, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. This represented an era that involved her learn major truths, work-wise and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “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

Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott started writing and performing comedy while studying performance at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” 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 seized control, appearing at amateur nights with her friend and uploading hilarious (and very) bizarre comedy videos digitally. One, Baby Cult, followed a group of women intensely fixated on pregnancy; another imagined being employed at a trendy retail outlet as like being trapped in a horror film. Interestingly, she met Seligman through campus film circles and ended up starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her journey, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, instead of established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, continuing with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Manifesting Dreams

Individuals who were skeptical about her previously will likely be feeling foolish today. Through she describes as a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to manifested her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted a video named “it’s LA” online, in which she parodied movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a comedy about LA residents juggling the perks of online celebrity (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing thief, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). One might easy to create a series about online fame that was extremely glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at those depicted. This show avoids both, creating a representation of advantaged millennial existence that’s candid about the grot and the appeal.

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 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