Rachel Sennott joins the video call and at once launches into an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, sounding genuinely remorseful. Despite being only a bit delayed, she needs to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is exactly what is ideal to experience. Additionally, it’s pretty predictable. Those familiar with the boldly queer and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—which she co-wrote with the director and featured in together with close companion The Bear’s standout—would be aware that she has a lot to say, whether on gender, relationships, or the appeal of forming a teen fight club. And, after watching the new multi-episode HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has additional perspectives about the darker side of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott represents a bridge to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress is an admirer, naming the show alongside Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as inspirations for her series, which tracks the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also aspiring agent Maia. However, the largest influence on the moodboard went to the HBO series, that show focusing on a rising Hollywood star making his way in a corrupt LA scene (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott started watching it during lockdown, became “hooked”, and chose to add a fresh perspective 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 inspiration for I Love LA came—to some extent—from her own, initially difficult, move to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about event for enthusiasts. That period marked a phase that saw her grasp some big insights, professionally and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott commenced developing and showcasing stand-up while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She decided to act independently, appearing at open mics with her friend and posting hilarious (and distinctly) bizarre comedy videos on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women intensely drawn to having babies; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a thriller. By chance, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her path, she says, has been contemporaries supporting her, as opposed to traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she repeats, stating humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who questioned regarding Sennott earlier will certainly be feeling foolish now. Through she describes as a “astonishingly complete” story, she seems to have created the perfect project. A few years back she uploaded a clip called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a show about Angelenos balancing benefits of internet fame (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your associate being labeled as being a substance-abusing thief, and potentially becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be tempting to create a program about internet celebrity that was overly idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. The series avoids both, resulting in a depiction of privileged millennial life that’s frank about the grot and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
