Rachel Sennott joins the video call and immediately starts an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming truly regretful. She is only a bit delayed, she wants to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, in this context, that’s precisely what is ideal to hear. Moreover, it’s quite expected. Anyone who know the boldly LGBTQ+ and outspoken project Bottoms—that Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and starred in with close companion The Bear’s standout—would understand that she possesses plenty to say, be it about roles, sex, or the pros of forming a youth brawl society. And, by the end the new eight-part show I Love LA, it is clear that she holds even more thoughts about the struggles of young adulthood (As a millennial, she is an honorary member of the gang, straddling eras skilled for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress is enthusiastic, naming the show alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for her series, which tracks the travails of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also aspiring agent portrayed by Sennott. However, the biggest presence on the moodboard was reserved for the HBO series, that HBO sitcom depicting an emerging Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty entertainment industry (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it throughout COVID-19, became “hooked”, and decided to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The inspiration for this project came—in part—from her own, originally fractious, transition to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a popular occurrence for astrology heads. This represented a time that included her grasp some big insights, work-wise and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “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
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott started creating and acting humor 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.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott seized control, taking the stage at amateur nights with her friend and uploading hilarious (and distinctly) weird comedy videos online. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely obsessed with pregnancy; another portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being trapped in a horror film. By chance, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually featuring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. The big theme of her career, she says, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, adding humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who questioned about Sennott earlier will certainly be kicking themselves today. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” development, she has achieved her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted content named about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she mocked film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a show about city dwellers managing benefits of internet fame (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). It would be simple to create a series about digital influence that was overly idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at the characters. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a representation of privileged young adult existence that’s candid about the mess and the appeal.
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
