Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and at once begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, appearing truly regretful. Despite being only slightly delayed, she wants to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is precisely what you want to experience. Moreover, it’s pretty predictable. Those who know the unapologetically queer and outspoken project titled Bottoms—which she collaborated on with the director and starred in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—can be aware that Sennott has a lot to discuss, be it on identity, relationships, or the pros of starting a youth fight club. And, after watching her latest seasonal show I Love LA, it is clear that she holds further insights on the struggles of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she serves as an honorary member to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial with a knack for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, naming it in addition to the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as influences for the project, which details the travails of online personality Tallulah and her friend and aspiring agent Maia. Notably, the most significant spot on concept was reserved for the HBO series, that HBO sitcom depicting an up-and-coming A-list actor making his way in a gritty Hollywood (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it during lockdown, became “obsessed”, and resolved to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The idea for I Love LA came—in part—from her own, initially fractious, transition to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a frequently discussed event for enthusiasts. That period marked a phase that saw her learn major truths, professionally and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” 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…”
Starting Out
Growing up in Connecticut, the star commenced creating and acting humor while pursuing performance at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She seized control, appearing at live shows with her friend and sharing uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre online content online. One, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women obsessively fixated on having babies; another envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as like being stuck in a horror film. By chance, she encountered Seligman through campus film circles and ultimately starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a religious event with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her journey, she notes, has been peers giving her a shot, rather than the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, adding humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who questioned about Sennott previously will certainly be regretting it today. As part of she describes as a “incredibly circular” development, she appears to created an ideal role. In 2019 she posted a clip named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a series about Angelenos juggling the perks of online celebrity (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being labeled as being a drug-addled stealer, and potentially becoming a unreliable persona non grata). It would be easy to create a program about online fame that was overly idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, making for a depiction of affluent twentysomething life that’s candid about the grot and the glamour.
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
