Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and right away launches into an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, seeming truly regretful. Despite being only a couple of minutes late, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s just what one hopes to encounter. Besides, it’s fairly predictable. Anyone who know her boldly queer and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—which she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in together with collaborator The Bear’s standout—would already know that she has a lot to discuss, ranging from on roles, relationships, or the appeal of starting a youth combat group. Furthermore, after watching the recent multi-episode program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she has even more insights about the challenges of modern youth (Now in her thirties, she serves as a relatable figure for this generation, on the cusp adept for bridging different age groups).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, naming the show alongside Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as guides for the project, which follows the struggles of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also aspiring representative Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the most significant spot on creative vision belonged to the popular sitcom, the program about a rising celebrity navigating in a gritty Hollywood (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it throughout COVID-19, became “hooked”, and resolved 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 explains. The concept for I Love LA originated—in part—from firsthand, originally fractious, relocation to LA and from her cosmic event, a popular event for followers. It was a time that involved her understand major insights, in her career and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Growing up in Connecticut, the star commenced creating and acting stand-up while studying acting 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. “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?”
She seized control, performing at live shows with Edebiri and sharing hysterical (and distinctly) bizarre skits online. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed characters obsessively obsessed with pregnancy; a different one imagined working at the brand Hollister as like being stuck in a scary movie. By chance, she met Seligman through campus film circles and ended up starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of the intense thriller. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been peers giving her a shot, rather than the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who were skeptical regarding Sennott then will certainly be regretting it currently. As part of she describes as a “incredibly circular” story, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she shared a video named “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a series about Angelenos balancing advantages of online celebrity (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and potentially becoming a risky persona non grata). One might tempting to create a series about digital influence that was extremely glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at those depicted. The series steers clear of each, creating a portrait of privileged millennial life that’s candid about the grot and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” she observes. “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
