Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and right away starts an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, sounding genuinely remorseful. She is only a couple of minutes delayed, she needs to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is precisely what you want to encounter. Besides, it’s quite unsurprising. Those who know her unapologetically queer and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—which she co-wrote with her creative partner and appeared in alongside close companion The Bear’s standout—would already know that Sennott holds a lot to discuss, whether on gender, sex, or the pros of creating a youth combat group. And, once you finish her new multi-episode program I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds additional insights on the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she represents an honorary member for this generation, straddling eras skilled for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being a fan, citing the show alongside the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which follows the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also fledgling agent Sennott’s character. However, the most significant presence on concept was reserved for the HBO series, the program depicting an emerging A-list actor navigating in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott started watching it amid the pandemic, became “captivated”, and decided to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The idea for this project originated—partly—from personal, at first fractious, transition to LA and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about event for enthusiasts. It was a phase that included her understand significant insights, in her career and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott began creating and acting comedy 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 seized control, taking the stage at amateur nights with her friend and uploading uproarious (and very) unconventional comedy videos digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed several females intensely drawn to having babies; a different one portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as like being caught in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a religious event with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, stating amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who were skeptical regarding her then will surely be feeling foolish currently. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she shared content called “it’s LA” online, in which she mocked movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a show about city dwellers managing benefits of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being labeled as being a drug-addled stealer, and potentially becoming a risky pariah). Some could tempting to produce a show about internet celebrity that was horribly idealized—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. This show steers clear of each, creating a depiction of affluent twentysomething living that’s candid about the mess and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“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
