Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and immediately launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming genuinely regretful. She is only a couple of minutes delayed, she feels compelled to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s precisely what is ideal to hear. Besides, it’s fairly expected. Those who have seen her boldly queer and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with the director and appeared in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—will be aware that Sennott possesses a lot to discuss, whether about gender, intimacy, or the pros of starting a youth combat group. Furthermore, after watching the new eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that she carries additional insights about the struggles of modern youth (As a millennial, she is a relatable figure to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial with a knack for bridging both generations).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott readily acknowledges enthusiastic, referencing it alongside the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which details the travails of online personality Tallulah and her friend who is also new talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the biggest influence on concept was reserved for the popular sitcom, that show depicting an emerging celebrity making his way in a gritty Hollywood (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott began viewing it amid the pandemic, became “captivated”, and chose to create a new version 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 idea for this project emerged—in part—from personal, initially difficult, transition to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about event for enthusiasts. That period marked a phase that involved her learn significant life lessons, in her career and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced writing and performing comedy while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with her friend and posting hilarious (and very) unconventional comedy videos online. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely obsessed with motherhood; another portrayed being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being caught in a horror film. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a Jewish wake with echoes of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age offering opportunities, instead of the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, adding with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Those who questioned about Sennott previously will certainly be regretting it currently. Through she labels a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. Previously she uploaded content called on LA life on social media, in which she mocked film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a series about city dwellers juggling the perks of digital stardom (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being labeled as being a intoxicated criminal, and perhaps becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be easy to create a program about digital influence that was horribly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at the characters. I Love LA steers clear of each, creating a representation of advantaged young adult existence that’s frank about the mess and the shine.
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
