Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and at once starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming genuinely remorseful. She is only a couple of minutes late, 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!” Thankfully, during an interview, that’s exactly what is ideal to hear. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Anyone who have seen the fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—which she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in alongside close companion the talented actress—can understand that she possesses much to discuss, whether on gender, relationships, or the appeal of forming a high-school brawl society. Furthermore, by the end the new eight-part program titled I Love LA, it is clear that she carries additional insights regarding the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a bridge of the gang, a tale-end millennial adept for connecting both generations).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, naming the show together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for the project, which details the journey of a social media star Tallulah and close companion who is also new agent Maia. Perhaps, the most significant spot on the moodboard went to the HBO series, that show depicting an up-and-coming A-list actor succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it during the pandemic, became “captivated”, and resolved to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The idea for this project emerged—to some extent—from her own, initially fractious, relocation to Tinseltown and from the cosmic event, a popular phenomenon for enthusiasts. It was an era that involved her learn major life lessons, in her career and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “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 …”
Humble Origins
Brought up in New England, the star started writing and performing humor while pursuing acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at live shows with Ayo and sharing hysterical (and very) unconventional comedy videos online. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed several females obsessively obsessed with pregnancy; a different one imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as like being caught in a scary movie. By chance, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. The central motif of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age giving her a shot, instead of established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who had doubts regarding Sennott then will likely be feeling foolish currently. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she has manifested an ideal role. Previously she shared a video named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about city dwellers managing advantages of internet fame (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a substance-abusing thief, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). Some could simple to produce a show about digital influence that was overly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA steers clear of each, resulting in a representation of privileged millennial existence that’s candid about the grot and the shine.
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
