Rachel Sennott joins the online meeting and immediately starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, sounding genuinely apologetic. Despite being only slightly delayed, she wants to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is precisely what one hopes to experience. Additionally, it’s pretty predictable. Those who have seen the fearlessly openly gay and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—that she collaborated on with her creative partner and appeared in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—will already know that she holds a lot to discuss, ranging from on gender, sex, or the pros of starting a high-school combat group. Plus, by the end the latest multi-episode program titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds additional thoughts regarding the struggles of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott represents a bridge of the gang, a tale-end millennial skilled for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, naming the show alongside the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as influences for the project, which details the struggles of online personality Tallulah and ally and fledgling representative portrayed by Sennott. However, the most significant spot on the moodboard went to Entourage, that HBO sitcom focusing on a rising A-list actor navigating in a corrupt Hollywood (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott started watching it during lockdown, became “hooked”, and decided 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 says. The inspiration for I Love LA emerged—in part—from personal, originally rocky, relocation to LA and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about occurrence for astrology heads. This represented an era that included her understand significant truths, professionally and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Raised in Connecticut, the star commenced writing and performing stand-up while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “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. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at open mics with Ayo and posting hysterical (and very) unconventional online content on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females fetishistically obsessed with pregnancy; another envisioned working at the brand Hollister as similar to being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up featuring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a funeral gathering with shades of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her path, she explains, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, adding with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Anyone who had doubts about Sennott earlier will likely be kicking themselves now. In what she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she appears to achieved an ideal role. In 2019 she uploaded content titled about Los Angeles on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a series about LA residents juggling advantages of internet fame (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being labeled as being a drug-addled stealer, and potentially becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be simple to make a series about internet celebrity that was extremely glamorous—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a depiction of privileged twentysomething living that’s frank about the chaos and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
