Rachel Sennott enters the video call and at once begins an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, seeming genuinely regretful. Despite being 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!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is precisely what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s quite expected. Viewers who know the unapologetically openly gay and outspoken movie Bottoms—which Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and starred in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that she has a lot to share, whether about roles, relationships, or the appeal of starting a teen brawl society. Plus, once you finish her recent multi-episode program titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has even more thoughts regarding the challenges of modern youth (At 30, Sennott is an honorary member for this generation, a tale-end millennial adept for bridging both generations).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges enthusiastic, citing it in addition to the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as influences for I Love LA, which follows the travails of a social media star Tallulah and ally who is also new agent Maia. Perhaps, the most significant spot on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, that program depicting a rising A-list actor succeeding in a corrupt LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it during COVID-19, became “hooked”, and chose to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The inspiration for this project emerged—partly—from firsthand, originally rocky, relocation to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a popular event for astrology heads. That period marked a phase that involved her learn major truths, work-wise and individually. “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…”
Starting Out
Raised in New England, the star started developing and showcasing comedy while studying performance at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” 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. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She decided to act independently, performing at open mics with Ayo and uploading hilarious (and distinctly) weird online content on the internet. One, Baby Cult, depicted characters obsessively obsessed with motherhood; a different one envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being stuck in a scary movie. By chance, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and ultimately featuring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her career, she explains, has been peers offering opportunities, instead of traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, adding with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who were skeptical regarding her previously will certainly be regretting it today. As part of she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she shared a video called about Los Angeles online, in which she mocked movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a series about city dwellers juggling the perks of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your client being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and potentially becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be tempting to produce a show about digital influence that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that mocked at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a portrait of affluent young adult existence that’s candid 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 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
