Rachel Sennott joins the online meeting and immediately starts an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, appearing truly regretful. She is only slightly delayed, she needs to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, during an interview, that’s exactly what is ideal to experience. Besides, it’s fairly predictable. Viewers who have seen the boldly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—which Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside close companion the talented actress—can be aware that Sennott has much to discuss, be it on identity, intimacy, or the appeal of forming a high-school fight club. Plus, by the end the new eight-part HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that she has even more perspectives regarding the struggles of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she serves as a relatable figure for this generation, a tale-end millennial skilled for bridging both generations).
Influences and Creative Vision
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being a fan, citing the show alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as inspirations for the project, which tracks the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also new representative Sennott’s character. However, the largest presence on concept was reserved for Entourage, the program focusing on an emerging celebrity making his way in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and decided to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The inspiration for this project emerged—in part—from personal, at first rocky, transition to LA and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed occurrence for astrology heads. That period marked a time that saw her grasp significant life lessons, in her career and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott started creating and acting humor while studying 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 states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. 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?”
Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at amateur nights with Ayo and sharing hilarious (and very) bizarre skits digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on several females intensely obsessed with motherhood; another imagined being employed at the brand Hollister as like being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through campus film circles and ended up starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her path, she notes, has been peers giving her a shot, rather than traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she repeats, continuing with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Those who had doubts about her then will certainly be kicking themselves currently. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she seems to have created an ideal role. A few years back she uploaded a clip named on LA life on social media, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a comedy about city dwellers juggling advantages of internet fame (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your associate being suspected of being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a risky persona non grata). One might tempting to make a series about online fame that was overly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that mocked at its subjects. This show avoids both, creating a portrait of advantaged millennial life that’s candid about the chaos and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“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
