Rachel Sennott joins the video call and immediately launches into an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely apologetic. She is only a bit late, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is precisely what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s quite expected. Those familiar with her unapologetically openly gay and outspoken film titled Bottoms—which she penned with the director and starred in with close companion Ayo Edebiri—would already know that she possesses plenty to share, ranging from about identity, intimacy, or the merits of starting a high-school fight club. Furthermore, by the end the latest eight-part program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds additional insights regarding the challenges of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott serves as a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for straddling different age groups).
Influences and Creative Vision
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and Sennott admits to being an admirer, referencing it alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as influences for her series, which tracks the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also aspiring agent portrayed by Sennott. However, the biggest spot on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, that show depicting an emerging A-list actor making his way in a corrupt Hollywood (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it during lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The idea for this project originated—to some extent—from personal, initially difficult, transition to LA and from her cosmic event, a popular event for followers. It was an era that saw her learn some big insights, in her career and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott began creating and acting humor while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “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. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She decided to act independently, performing at live shows with Edebiri and posting hilarious (and distinctly) bizarre comedy videos on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women fetishistically obsessed with motherhood; another portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being caught in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through NYU’s movie community and ultimately appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her path, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, instead of traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, stating with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who questioned regarding her previously will surely be regretting it today. Through she labels a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she seems to have created the perfect project. A few years back she shared content titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a comedy about city dwellers juggling advantages of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being labeled as being a intoxicated criminal, and possibly becoming a risky outcast). Some could simple to make a program about digital influence that was extremely idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. This show does neither, making for a portrait of advantaged millennial life that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
