Rachel Sennott appears on the video call and at once launches into an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing truly regretful. Despite being only slightly late, she wants to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, during an interview, that’s just what you want to experience. Additionally, it’s fairly expected. Those who have seen the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and brash film titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with her creative partner and featured in alongside close companion Ayo Edebiri—can already know that she possesses much to discuss, be it on identity, intimacy, or the pros of starting a high-school brawl society. Plus, after watching the latest eight-part program I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she has further perspectives regarding the challenges of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she serves as a relatable figure for this generation, on the cusp skilled for bridging both generations).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, naming the show together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which tracks the travails of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and new representative portrayed by Sennott. However, the most significant influence on concept went to the HBO series, that HBO sitcom depicting a rising celebrity succeeding in an often-seedy LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it amid COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The idea for this project emerged—partly—from firsthand, initially rocky, relocation to LA and from the cosmic event, a popular event for enthusiasts. That period marked a phase that saw her understand significant insights, professionally and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “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…”
Humble Origins
Raised in New England, the star started writing and performing comedy while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott seized control, appearing at open mics with Edebiri and uploading hysterical (and distinctly) bizarre online content digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed several females obsessively drawn to pregnancy; a different one portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through campus film circles and ended up starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she explains, has been people her own age offering opportunities, instead of the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who had doubts regarding her earlier will certainly be feeling foolish currently. As part of she describes as a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded a video titled “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a show about Angelenos managing the perks of internet fame (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being accused of being a drug-addled thief, and possibly becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be tempting to produce a program about online fame that was extremely idealized—or, more problematic, one that punched down at its subjects. The series steers clear of each, making for a portrait of privileged twentysomething existence that’s candid about the chaos and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“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
