Rachel Sennott appears on the video call and at once starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, sounding really remorseful. Despite being only slightly behind, she feels compelled to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s precisely what you want to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Anyone who have seen her unapologetically openly gay and brash film titled Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in with close companion the talented actress—can already know that Sennott possesses plenty to share, whether about gender, relationships, or the pros of creating a teen fight club. Plus, by the end her new eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds additional thoughts on the darker side of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott represents an honorary member to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial adept for straddling both generations).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Parallels to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, referencing it together with the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for her series, which tracks the struggles of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and new agent portrayed by Sennott. However, the biggest influence on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, the HBO sitcom depicting a rising celebrity navigating in a gritty entertainment industry (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She began viewing it amid the pandemic, became “captivated”, and chose to put her own twist 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 explains. The idea for I Love LA emerged—partly—from firsthand, originally rocky, transition to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a frequently discussed occurrence for enthusiasts. This represented a phase that involved her grasp major life lessons, in her career and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott started creating and acting humor while studying theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at live shows with Ayo and posting hilarious (and distinctly) bizarre comedy videos digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women obsessively drawn to having babies; a different one imagined working at the brand Hollister as similar to being stuck in a horror film. Interestingly, she met Emma through campus film circles and eventually featuring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her journey, she explains, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, instead of traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, continuing amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Those who questioned about Sennott previously will likely be regretting it now. As part of she describes as a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to achieved the perfect project. A few years back she shared a clip titled about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about LA residents balancing the perks of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your client being suspected of being a substance-abusing stealer, and potentially becoming a unreliable persona non grata). One might tempting to create a show about digital influence that was overly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. This show avoids both, resulting in a portrait of privileged millennial life that’s frank about the mess and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she comments. “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
