Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and right away launches into an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, sounding truly regretful. Although she's only a bit late, she feels compelled to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s exactly what you want to hear. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Viewers who have seen the boldly LGBTQ+ and brash film titled Bottoms—which Sennott penned with her creative partner and appeared in with her friend the talented actress—can understand that Sennott has much to say, whether on roles, sex, or the appeal of creating a high-school fight club. Plus, once you finish the latest eight-part show I Love LA, it is clear that she holds additional insights on the darker side of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she represents a relatable figure of the gang, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, naming it alongside the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for the project, which follows the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also new agent portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the most significant spot on concept belonged to Entourage, the program depicting a rising celebrity making his way in a corrupt entertainment industry (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it during COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The inspiration for this project emerged—to some extent—from her own, initially difficult, move to LA and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about phenomenon for astrology heads. That period marked a time that included her understand significant life lessons, in her career and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott commenced writing and performing humor while enrolled in acting at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” 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.”
She decided to act independently, appearing at open mics with her friend and sharing uproarious (and very) weird comedy videos on the internet. One, Baby Cult, followed several females fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; a different one imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a thriller. By chance, she met Emma through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a religious event with echoes of the intense thriller. The central motif of her career, she explains, has been contemporaries supporting her, rather than the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who were skeptical regarding her previously will certainly be feeling foolish currently. In what she describes as a “astonishingly complete” development, she appears to achieved the perfect project. Previously she posted content named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a show about Angelenos juggling the perks of digital stardom (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being labeled as being a substance-abusing thief, and possibly becoming a unreliable pariah). One might simple to produce a program about online fame that was extremely glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a representation of affluent young adult life that’s frank about the mess and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
