Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and right away launches into an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, appearing genuinely remorseful. She is only slightly late, she feels compelled to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, in this context, that’s precisely what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s fairly predictable. Viewers who know the boldly queer and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—that Sennott penned with the director and featured in with her friend The Bear’s standout—will be aware that she possesses a lot to say, be it about identity, relationships, or the appeal of forming a high-school combat group. And, after watching the recent seasonal HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has even more thoughts regarding the darker side of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents a relatable figure to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial adept for bridging different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, naming it alongside the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as influences for I Love LA, which details the travails of an influencer Tallulah and close companion who is also aspiring agent Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the biggest spot on the moodboard was reserved for the HBO series, that program about an emerging Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it throughout the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and resolved 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 idea for I Love LA emerged—to some extent—from personal, initially rocky, transition to LA and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about occurrence for followers. This represented an era that involved her grasp significant life lessons, work-wise and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Raised in Connecticut, the star started creating and acting humor while enrolled in acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at open mics with her friend and uploading hilarious (and very) bizarre skits on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed characters fetishistically fixated on motherhood; another envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a thriller. By chance, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she explains, has been peers giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Anyone who were skeptical regarding her previously will surely be regretting it currently. In what she labels a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded a clip called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a series about city dwellers managing the perks of digital stardom (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). One might simple to produce a show about internet celebrity that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that punched down at its subjects. The series steers clear of each, resulting in a depiction of privileged millennial life that’s honest about the grot and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
