Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and right away launches into an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, appearing really regretful. Although she's only a couple of minutes late, she wants to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, in this context, this is just what one hopes to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty predictable. Anyone familiar with her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken movie Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with her creative partner and starred in together with her friend The Bear’s standout—would already know that she possesses plenty to share, be it on identity, sex, or the pros of creating a youth fight club. Plus, after watching the latest multi-episode show I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has further perspectives about the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a relatable figure for this generation, a tale-end millennial skilled for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, referencing it together with the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as guides for the project, which tracks the journey of a social media star Tallulah and close companion and new talent manager Maia. Perhaps, the largest influence on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, the show focusing on a rising A-list actor navigating in an often-seedy entertainment industry (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it throughout the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The concept for I Love LA emerged—in part—from her own, at first fractious, move to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a popular phenomenon for followers. This represented a phase that saw her grasp some big truths, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” 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 the East Coast, the star commenced writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “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. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott seized control, appearing at amateur nights with Ayo and uploading uproarious (and decidedly) bizarre skits on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted characters obsessively drawn to having babies; another portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and ultimately featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her journey, she explains, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, rather than the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, adding humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Individuals who were skeptical about Sennott then will certainly be feeling foolish currently. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” development, she appears to achieved an ideal role. Previously she posted a clip called on LA life online, in which she mocked movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a comedy about Angelenos managing benefits of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and potentially becoming a risky persona non grata). It would be easy to make a show about online fame that was overly aspirational—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a depiction of affluent millennial existence that’s honest about the chaos and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
