Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and at once begins an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, sounding really remorseful. Although she's only a couple of minutes delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, during an interview, that’s exactly what you want to encounter. Moreover, it’s fairly predictable. Those who have seen her fearlessly openly gay and brash movie Bottoms—that Sennott penned with her creative partner and starred in with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—can already know that she possesses a lot to share, whether about roles, intimacy, or the pros of starting a teen brawl society. Plus, by the end her latest seasonal program I Love LA, it is clear that the star has additional perspectives on the challenges of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott serves as a relatable figure to younger audiences, straddling eras adept for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress admits to being an admirer, citing it alongside Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which tracks the struggles of online personality Tallulah and her friend who is also fledgling agent portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the largest presence on the moodboard was reserved for Entourage, the show about an emerging celebrity making his way in a corrupt entertainment industry (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it amid the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and decided to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The idea for the series originated—in part—from firsthand, initially fractious, transition to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a popular occurrence for followers. This represented a time that involved her grasp major life lessons, work-wise and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in New England, Sennott began writing and performing humor while pursuing performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “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.”
Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at open mics with Ayo and posting hilarious (and very) weird skits digitally. One, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically obsessed with pregnancy; a different one envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a horror film. By chance, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her path, she says, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, instead of established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Those who had doubts about Sennott previously will likely be feeling foolish today. Through she calls a “incredibly circular” development, she seems to have created the perfect project. Previously she uploaded a clip titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a series about city dwellers balancing advantages of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your client being labeled as being a intoxicated thief, and potentially becoming a risky pariah). One might easy to make a show about internet celebrity that was horribly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA steers clear of each, creating a representation of advantaged young adult life that’s honest about the chaos and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
