Rachel Sennott appears on the digital interview and immediately starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, seeming truly remorseful. Although she's only a bit behind, she needs to justify. “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!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is exactly what is ideal to hear. Besides, it’s fairly expected. Viewers familiar with the boldly queer and outspoken film titled Bottoms—which she collaborated on with the director and starred in together with collaborator The Bear’s standout—can be aware that she possesses a lot to share, be it about identity, sex, or the appeal of forming a youth brawl society. Furthermore, once you finish the recent eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds further insights about the challenges of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she represents an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for straddling both generations).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and the actress is enthusiastic, referencing the show in addition to Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the struggles of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and new representative portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the most significant presence on creative vision went to the HBO series, the program focusing on an emerging celebrity navigating in a corrupt Hollywood (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it throughout the pandemic, became “hooked”, and chose 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 says. The concept for I Love LA originated—partly—from her own, at first rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a popular event for astrology heads. It was an era that involved her learn significant insights, professionally and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Raised in Connecticut, the star began developing and showcasing comedy while enrolled in performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She took matters into her own hands, performing at amateur nights with her friend and uploading hysterical (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on several females obsessively obsessed with pregnancy; a different one imagined being employed at a trendy retail outlet as like being caught in a thriller. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her path, she notes, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, stating amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who had doubts about Sennott then will surely be feeling foolish now. As part of she calls a “astonishingly complete” story, she seems to have manifested the perfect project. Previously she shared a clip titled on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about Angelenos balancing benefits of internet fame (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a intoxicated stealer, and potentially becoming a unreliable pariah). One might simple to create a show about internet celebrity that was extremely idealized—or, worse, one that mocked at the characters. The series steers clear of each, making for a depiction of affluent millennial existence that’s honest about the mess and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
