Rachel Sennott appears on the digital interview and at once launches into an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, seeming genuinely apologetic. Although she's only slightly behind, she needs 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!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is exactly what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone who have seen the boldly openly gay and brash project Bottoms—which she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in together with close companion Ayo Edebiri—can already know that she possesses much to discuss, be it about identity, intimacy, or the pros of starting a youth combat group. And, by the end her latest seasonal show I Love LA, viewers realize that she has even more insights on the darker side of modern youth (At 30, Sennott serves as a relatable figure for this generation, on the cusp skilled for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being an admirer, citing it together with the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as guides for the project, which details the travails of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and new agent portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the largest presence on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, the HBO sitcom about a rising celebrity navigating in a gritty Hollywood (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She started watching it during the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The idea for I Love LA emerged—partly—from her own, initially difficult, relocation to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about occurrence for astrology heads. It was a phase that included her grasp some big life lessons, professionally and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “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 New England, Sennott started developing and showcasing humor while studying acting 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.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She decided to act independently, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and uploading hysterical (and very) bizarre online content digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted characters fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; a different one portrayed working at the brand Hollister as like being caught in a scary movie. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her journey, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, instead of established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who questioned regarding Sennott previously will likely be regretting it currently. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she appears to created her dream vehicle. Previously she shared a video titled “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a series about Angelenos juggling the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being suspected of being a substance-abusing criminal, and potentially becoming a unreliable outcast). Some could easy to make a show about internet celebrity that was overly idealized—or, worse, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, creating a portrait of privileged young adult life that’s candid about the chaos and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
