Rachel Sennott joins the online meeting and at once starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, sounding genuinely apologetic. She is only a couple of minutes behind, she needs to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s just what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s fairly predictable. Those who know the boldly LGBTQ+ and brash film Bottoms—that Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and appeared in together with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would already know that Sennott has plenty to share, be it on identity, sex, or the appeal of starting a youth brawl society. Furthermore, once you finish her new seasonal HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star carries even more perspectives regarding the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, she is an honorary member to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial skilled for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress is a fan, referencing the show in addition to the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as guides for her series, which follows the journey of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. However, the most significant influence on concept was reserved for the popular sitcom, that program focusing on an up-and-coming celebrity succeeding in a corrupt entertainment industry (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it amid COVID-19, became “captivated”, and chose 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 concept for I Love LA originated—in part—from her own, originally rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about phenomenon for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that included her learn some big insights, professionally and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Brought up in New England, Sennott began writing and performing stand-up 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 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, performing at live shows with Edebiri and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) weird comedy videos on the internet. One, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women intensely obsessed with pregnancy; a different one portrayed working at the brand Hollister as like being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her path, she notes, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, stating amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Those who questioned regarding her then will certainly be feeling foolish now. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she has created an ideal role. A few years back she uploaded content titled about Los Angeles on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a comedy about LA residents balancing the perks of internet fame (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your client being suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be easy to produce a show about online fame that was overly idealized—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA steers clear of each, making for a depiction of affluent twentysomething life that’s frank 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
