Rachel Sennott joins the video call and immediately begins an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming really apologetic. She is only a couple of minutes behind, she needs to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, in this context, that’s exactly what one hopes to experience. Besides, it’s quite expected. Viewers who have seen the boldly openly gay and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—which Sennott penned with the director and featured in together with her friend the talented actress—can be aware that she holds plenty to discuss, whether about gender, intimacy, or the merits of forming a high-school brawl society. Furthermore, after watching the latest eight-part program I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star has additional insights about the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a bridge to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial adept for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott readily acknowledges an admirer, referencing the show together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as influences for her series, which follows the journey of an influencer Tallulah and her friend who is also fledgling representative Sennott’s character. However, the biggest presence on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, the show about an up-and-coming A-list actor making his way in an often-seedy entertainment industry (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She started watching 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 says. The concept for this project emerged—partly—from her own, initially rocky, relocation to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about event for followers. It was a time that saw her understand significant truths, work-wise and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” 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 resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in Connecticut, the star commenced developing and showcasing stand-up while pursuing performance at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She seized control, taking the stage at amateur nights with her friend and uploading hilarious (and decidedly) unconventional skits on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on characters fetishistically obsessed with pregnancy; a different one envisioned being employed at the brand Hollister as like being stuck in a scary movie. By chance, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a religious event with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her path, she explains, has been people her own age supporting her, instead of established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who had doubts about Sennott previously will likely be regretting it today. In what she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she has created her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded a clip titled “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about city dwellers managing the perks of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and possibly becoming a unreliable persona non grata). One might tempting to make a show about digital influence that was extremely glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at those depicted. I Love LA does neither, creating a portrait of privileged millennial living that’s frank about the grot 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 says. “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
