The actress and writer discussing the uproarious comedy portraying the messy glamour of today's youth existence
Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and at once begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, appearing genuinely regretful. Although she's only slightly late, she feels compelled to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s precisely what you want to experience. Besides, it’s quite predictable. Viewers who know her fearlessly queer and outspoken project titled Bottoms—which she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside close companion the talented actress—will already know that Sennott holds a lot to discuss, ranging from about gender, sex, or the pros of creating a high-school brawl society. Furthermore, once you finish her new seasonal show titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds additional insights about the darker side of modern youth (Now in her thirties, she serves as a bridge to younger audiences, on the cusp skilled for bridging different age groups).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress is an admirer, referencing the show together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for her series, which details the struggles of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also aspiring agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the biggest spot on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, that program depicting a rising A-list actor succeeding in a gritty entertainment industry (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it during the pandemic, became “hooked”, and decided to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The concept for I Love LA came—in part—from personal, at first difficult, transition to LA and from the cosmic event, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. That period marked a phase that saw her understand significant insights, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” 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…”
Early Beginnings
Raised in New England, the star started developing and showcasing comedy while studying acting at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “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 seized control, appearing at open mics with Edebiri and posting uproarious (and very) weird online content digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; another imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being stuck in a thriller. By chance, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a Jewish wake with echoes of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her path, she notes, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who were skeptical regarding Sennott earlier will surely be kicking themselves now. Through she describes as a “incredibly circular” development, she appears to achieved an ideal role. A few years back she shared a video called about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a comedy about city dwellers juggling advantages of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and perhaps becoming a risky outcast). Some could tempting to produce a program about digital influence that was horribly idealized—or, worse, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA does neither, creating a depiction of privileged millennial living that’s candid about the chaos and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“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