Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and right away starts an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing genuinely remorseful. Although she's only a couple of minutes behind, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s precisely what one hopes to experience. Moreover, it’s pretty predictable. Viewers familiar with her unapologetically queer and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—which Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and starred in together with her friend the talented actress—can understand that she holds plenty to discuss, ranging from about roles, relationships, or the merits of forming a high-school brawl society. Furthermore, by the end the latest eight-part show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds even more thoughts regarding the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott represents a bridge for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being an admirer, referencing the show together with Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as guides for the project, which details the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and fledgling agent Maia. Notably, the biggest spot on the moodboard went to the popular sitcom, the program about an up-and-coming Hollywood star navigating in a corrupt Hollywood (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott began viewing it during lockdown, became “captivated”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The concept for this project originated—to some extent—from her own, at first rocky, relocation to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. This represented a phase that saw her grasp significant life lessons, professionally and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Brought up in the East Coast, the star began writing and performing stand-up while pursuing acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at amateur nights with Edebiri and uploading uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre skits online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely fixated on motherhood; another envisioned being employed at the brand Hollister as akin to being caught in a scary movie. Interestingly, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up starring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a religious event with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her path, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, adding humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who questioned about Sennott previously will likely be regretting it now. Through she labels a “incredibly circular” development, she appears to created the perfect project. A few years back she uploaded a clip named on LA life on social media, in which she lampooned movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a comedy about city dwellers managing the perks of internet fame (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). Some could simple to create a show about digital influence that was horribly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at the characters. The series does neither, making for a representation of privileged young adult life that’s frank about the mess and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
