Rachel Sennott joins the video call and at once begins an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, sounding genuinely remorseful. Although she's only a bit delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s just what you want to experience. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Those who know her fearlessly openly gay and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—which she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and starred in with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—will understand that she possesses much to share, be it about gender, relationships, or the pros of creating a youth brawl society. And, by the end the latest multi-episode show I Love LA, viewers realize that she has additional thoughts regarding the struggles of young adulthood (As a millennial, she represents an honorary member to younger audiences, straddling eras adept for connecting different age groups).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, naming it alongside the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as guides for the project, which details the struggles of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also new talent manager portrayed by Sennott. However, the biggest spot on the moodboard belonged to Entourage, that program about an emerging Hollywood star navigating in a gritty entertainment industry (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it during lockdown, became “hooked”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The concept for this project emerged—to some extent—from personal, at first difficult, relocation to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed phenomenon for followers. That period marked a time that saw her learn significant life lessons, in her career and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” 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…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott started writing and performing humor while pursuing performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at open mics with Edebiri and uploading uproarious (and very) unconventional online content digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on several females intensely drawn to having babies; another envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as like being trapped in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a Jewish wake with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her career, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, instead of traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, stating humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who had doubts regarding Sennott previously will likely be regretting it currently. As part of she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to created an ideal role. A few years back she uploaded content named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about city dwellers balancing benefits of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being accused of being a substance-abusing criminal, and potentially becoming a unreliable outcast). One might tempting to produce a series about online fame that was overly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, making for a depiction of privileged millennial life that’s honest about the mess and the appeal.
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
