Rachel Sennott enters the video call and at once starts an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming really apologetic. She is only a bit delayed, she feels compelled to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s just what is ideal to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty predictable. Those who have seen the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and brash film Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in with close companion The Bear’s standout—can already know that Sennott has much to say, be it on identity, sex, or the pros of creating a high-school combat group. And, by the end her recent eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds additional insights about the challenges of young adulthood (As a millennial, she serves as a bridge to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling both generations).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott admits to being an admirer, referencing the show in addition to Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and ally and new agent Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the most significant presence on concept belonged to the HBO series, that program focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy entertainment industry (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it throughout the pandemic, became “hooked”, and decided to create a new version 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 explains. The inspiration for the series originated—partly—from personal, originally difficult, relocation to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about event for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that saw her learn significant insights, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in the East Coast, the star began developing and showcasing stand-up while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” 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 decided to act independently, appearing at open mics with Ayo and uploading hysterical (and very) weird online content online. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted characters obsessively fixated on motherhood; a different one portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being stuck in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and eventually appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a Jewish wake with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her career, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who questioned regarding Sennott previously will surely be kicking themselves currently. In what she calls a “wild, full-circle” development, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. A few years back she shared content titled on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a series about LA residents managing advantages of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your client being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). Some could simple to make a series about internet celebrity that was extremely aspirational—or, worse, one that punched down at those depicted. The series does neither, creating a portrait of privileged millennial living that’s frank about the grot and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“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
