Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and at once launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, sounding truly apologetic. She is only slightly delayed, she wants to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, in this context, this is precisely what is ideal to encounter. Besides, it’s fairly predictable. Those familiar with her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken project titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with the director and starred in with collaborator the talented actress—would be aware that she possesses much to discuss, be it about gender, intimacy, or the merits of creating a high-school brawl society. Furthermore, after watching the latest eight-part HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that she carries even more insights on the challenges of Gen Z life (At 30, she is a bridge for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for bridging both generations).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott readily acknowledges enthusiastic, referencing the show alongside the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as guides for I Love LA, which follows the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and ally who is also aspiring representative Sennott’s character. However, the largest spot on creative vision was reserved for Entourage, the HBO sitcom about an up-and-coming celebrity navigating in a corrupt LA scene (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it amid COVID-19, became “captivated”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The inspiration for the series emerged—partly—from firsthand, originally fractious, transition to Tinseltown and from the cosmic event, a popular phenomenon for enthusiasts. That period marked an era that involved her learn major truths, professionally and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott began writing and performing stand-up while studying theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “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 decided to act independently, taking the stage at live shows with Edebiri and sharing hilarious (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on a group of women fetishistically fixated on having babies; another portrayed working at the brand Hollister as similar to being stuck in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a religious event with echoes of the intense thriller. The big theme of her path, she explains, has been people her own age offering opportunities, instead of established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, continuing with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who were skeptical regarding her previously will certainly be regretting it now. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she appears to manifested her dream vehicle. A few years back she uploaded a video named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she lampooned film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a show about Angelenos juggling benefits of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being suspected of being a drug-addled thief, and perhaps becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be simple to produce a show about digital influence that was overly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at those depicted. I Love LA avoids both, making for a depiction of advantaged twentysomething existence that’s honest about the grot and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
