Rachel Sennott appears on the digital interview and at once launches into an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, seeming genuinely apologetic. Despite being only slightly late, she wants to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, in this context, this is precisely what you want to experience. Additionally, it’s quite expected. Those who know her unapologetically openly gay and brash movie Bottoms—which she co-wrote with the director and starred in alongside collaborator The Bear’s standout—would understand that Sennott has plenty to share, ranging from about roles, relationships, or the pros of forming a high-school fight club. Furthermore, after watching the new eight-part show titled I Love LA, it is clear that she holds additional thoughts on the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, she is a bridge of the gang, straddling eras skilled for straddling both generations).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott is enthusiastic, naming the show together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as inspirations for her series, which follows the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also new agent Maia. Notably, the biggest influence on concept went to the popular sitcom, that show about an up-and-coming A-list actor succeeding in a corrupt entertainment industry (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it throughout COVID-19, became “hooked”, and chose to put her own twist 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 says. The idea for this project came—to some extent—from personal, originally difficult, relocation to LA and from the astrological phase, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. This represented a time that saw her understand major truths, work-wise and personally. “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
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott commenced writing and performing comedy while studying acting at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at open mics with Ayo and uploading uproarious (and decidedly) weird comedy videos online. One, Baby Cult, depicted several females intensely fixated on pregnancy; another imagined working at the brand Hollister as like being stuck in a scary movie. By chance, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a religious event with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her journey, she explains, has been peers giving her a shot, instead of established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, stating with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who had doubts about Sennott earlier will likely be kicking themselves currently. As part of she describes as a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she appears to achieved her dream vehicle. Previously she posted content titled on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a series about LA residents juggling advantages of digital stardom (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being labeled as being a intoxicated stealer, and potentially becoming a unreliable persona non grata). It would be simple to make a show about online fame that was horribly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that mocked at its subjects. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a representation of privileged young adult life that’s honest about the mess and the appeal.
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 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
