Rachel Sennott joins the online meeting and immediately starts an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, sounding truly apologetic. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, she needs 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!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s precisely what one hopes to encounter. Moreover, it’s quite expected. Anyone who know her unapologetically queer and brash project titled Bottoms—that she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and appeared in with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would understand that Sennott holds much to discuss, be it on roles, sex, or the pros of forming a teen fight club. Plus, by the end her recent multi-episode program I Love LA, it is clear that she carries further thoughts on the challenges of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott represents a relatable figure for this generation, on the cusp adept for bridging both generations).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, citing the show together with the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which follows the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and new representative portrayed by Sennott. However, the largest presence on creative vision belonged to the popular sitcom, the show depicting an up-and-coming A-list actor succeeding in an often-seedy LA scene (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott started watching it amid lockdown, became “captivated”, and resolved to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The idea for this project originated—in part—from firsthand, originally difficult, move to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a popular occurrence for followers. This represented a phase that saw her grasp some big insights, in her career and in private life. “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. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in New England, the star began creating and acting stand-up while enrolled in performance at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” 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. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at open mics with Ayo and posting hilarious (and distinctly) weird skits on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women obsessively fixated on motherhood; a different one envisioned being employed at the brand Hollister as like being stuck in a scary movie. Interestingly, she met Emma through campus film circles and ultimately starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a religious event with echoes of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her path, she explains, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, continuing humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Individuals who questioned regarding Sennott previously will likely be kicking themselves now. As part of she describes as a “wild, full-circle” development, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. Previously she shared content named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about LA residents balancing benefits of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your associate being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and perhaps becoming a risky persona non grata). One might tempting to produce a program about online fame that was overly idealized—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. The series does neither, creating a portrait of privileged twentysomething life that’s frank about the chaos and the appeal.
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
