Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and right away begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, sounding truly remorseful. Despite being only a bit late, she needs to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, in this context, that’s exactly what is ideal to encounter. Additionally, it’s fairly predictable. Viewers who have seen her boldly LGBTQ+ and brash movie Bottoms—that she penned with the director and appeared in together with close companion the talented actress—will already know that she holds a lot to discuss, ranging from about identity, sex, or the pros of creating a teen combat group. And, by the end her new eight-part program I Love LA, it is clear that the star has even more thoughts about the darker side of modern youth (As a millennial, Sennott is a relatable figure of the gang, on the cusp skilled for bridging both generations).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, citing it together with the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which details the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also new talent manager Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the largest presence on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, that program about a rising celebrity navigating in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it throughout the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and resolved to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The concept for the series originated—partly—from her own, initially difficult, move to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about phenomenon for astrology heads. That period marked a time that included her learn significant truths, professionally and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Brought up in New England, Sennott started developing and showcasing comedy while studying performance at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She took matters into her own hands, performing at open mics with her friend and sharing hilarious (and very) unconventional online content online. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on several females intensely drawn to pregnancy; a different one portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as akin to being trapped in a horror film. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and eventually featuring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age offering opportunities, instead of established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she repeats, stating humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who were skeptical about Sennott previously will surely be feeling foolish today. In what she labels a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she has achieved the perfect project. A few years back she uploaded content titled on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a series about LA residents managing the perks of digital stardom (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being accused of being a substance-abusing criminal, and perhaps becoming a unreliable outcast). One might easy to create a series about internet celebrity that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. The series does neither, resulting in a portrait of privileged young adult existence that’s honest about the mess and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“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
