Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and immediately starts an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, sounding truly apologetic. She is only slightly delayed, she feels compelled to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s exactly what is ideal to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty expected. Those familiar with the unapologetically openly gay and outspoken film Bottoms—which she co-wrote with the director and featured in alongside close companion The Bear’s standout—would understand that she holds plenty to share, whether on roles, intimacy, or the appeal of forming a teen fight club. Plus, after watching the latest seasonal show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds even more perspectives on the darker side of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott is a bridge for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and Sennott is enthusiastic, referencing the show alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for her series, which follows the travails of an influencer Tallulah and close companion and new agent Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the largest influence on concept went to the popular sitcom, that show about an up-and-coming celebrity making his way in a gritty Hollywood (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it throughout the pandemic, became “captivated”, and chose to add a fresh perspective 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 notes. The concept for I Love LA originated—to some extent—from personal, at first fractious, relocation to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a popular event for followers. This represented a phase that included her grasp some big truths, in her career and personally. “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…”
Humble Origins
Raised in New England, the star commenced developing and showcasing humor while studying performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She took matters into her own hands, appearing at amateur nights with her friend and uploading uproarious (and decidedly) weird skits online. One, Baby Cult, centered on several females fetishistically obsessed with pregnancy; a different one envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being caught in a horror film. By chance, she met Emma through campus film circles and ultimately featuring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age giving her a shot, instead of the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, stating amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who were skeptical about Sennott earlier will surely be regretting it today. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” development, she has created her dream vehicle. In 2019 she posted a video titled about Los Angeles online, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a comedy about LA residents juggling advantages of digital stardom (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing thief, and perhaps becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be simple to create a show about internet celebrity that was extremely idealized—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at those depicted. This show steers clear of each, making for a representation of affluent millennial living that’s frank about the chaos and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
