Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and immediately begins an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, seeming really regretful. Although she's only a couple of minutes delayed, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is precisely what one hopes to hear. Besides, it’s fairly unsurprising. Viewers who know her unapologetically queer and brash project titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and appeared in together with her friend Ayo Edebiri—would already know that Sennott has a lot to say, whether about identity, intimacy, or the pros of starting a high-school combat group. Plus, by the end the new multi-episode program I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds even more insights on the challenges of Gen Z life (At 30, she serves as a relatable figure of the gang, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress is an admirer, naming the show alongside Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as inspirations for the project, which follows the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and close companion and aspiring representative Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the biggest influence on the moodboard went to the popular sitcom, that show about an up-and-coming A-list actor making his way in a corrupt LA scene (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it amid the pandemic, became “captivated”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The idea for this project came—partly—from her own, at first rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a popular event for astrology heads. That period marked a time that involved her learn some big truths, work-wise and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott started creating and acting humor while enrolled in performance at a prestigious arts school. “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. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She seized control, taking the stage at amateur nights with Edebiri and uploading hysterical (and very) unconventional skits online. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively obsessed with having babies; a different one portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her path, she explains, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, continuing with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who questioned regarding her then will certainly be kicking themselves today. As part of she describes as a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she appears to created an ideal role. In 2019 she posted a video titled on LA life on social media, in which she mocked movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a comedy about Angelenos balancing advantages of digital stardom (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being labeled as being a drug-addled stealer, and potentially becoming a risky outcast). Some could simple to make a show about online fame that was horribly idealized—or, more problematic, one that mocked at its subjects. I Love LA steers clear of each, making for a representation of privileged millennial existence that’s frank about the grot and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“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
