Rachel Sennott appears on the online meeting and at once begins an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, appearing truly apologetic. Although she's only a bit behind, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is precisely what you want to experience. Additionally, it’s fairly predictable. Those who have seen her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—which she penned with Emma Seligman and featured in with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would understand that Sennott possesses much to discuss, ranging from on roles, intimacy, or the merits of forming a high-school fight club. Furthermore, after watching her new seasonal show titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star carries further thoughts regarding the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents a bridge to younger audiences, straddling eras skilled for connecting both generations).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress is a fan, citing the show alongside Sex and the City, Insecure and the innovative program as influences for I Love LA, which follows the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and aspiring agent portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the biggest spot on concept was reserved for Entourage, the program about a rising celebrity succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The concept for the series originated—in part—from her own, initially difficult, transition to LA and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed occurrence for astrology heads. That period marked an era that included her understand some big truths, work-wise and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Brought up in New England, the star began creating and acting humor while enrolled in theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” 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. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She decided to act independently, performing at live shows with Ayo and uploading uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre comedy videos on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, followed characters obsessively fixated on pregnancy; a different one envisioned being employed at the brand Hollister as like being stuck in a horror film. By chance, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a religious event with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her career, she says, has been contemporaries supporting her, as opposed to the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, stating amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Anyone who questioned about Sennott previously will likely be feeling foolish today. In what she describes as a “wild, full-circle” development, she seems to have manifested the perfect project. Previously she uploaded content named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a show about Angelenos balancing advantages of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be simple to produce a program about digital influence that was extremely glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at those depicted. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a depiction of affluent millennial life that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.
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 says. “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
