Rachel Sennott appears on the digital interview and right away launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely remorseful. Although she's only a bit delayed, she wants to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, during an interview, that’s just what you want to experience. Besides, it’s fairly expected. Those who have seen her fearlessly openly gay and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and starred in with her friend Ayo Edebiri—can understand that Sennott has plenty to discuss, be it about identity, intimacy, or the merits of starting a youth brawl society. Furthermore, after watching her latest multi-episode HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she carries additional perspectives regarding the struggles of modern youth (As a millennial, she serves as a relatable figure to younger audiences, straddling eras adept for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being a fan, referencing the show in addition to the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as influences for I Love LA, which tracks the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and her friend and new agent Maia. However, the most significant influence on the moodboard was reserved for Entourage, the program depicting a rising celebrity making his way in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it during COVID-19, 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 inspiration for I Love LA emerged—in part—from her own, initially fractious, move to LA and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for followers. It was a phase that involved her understand significant insights, in her career and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in New England, the star commenced creating and acting humor while studying performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott decided to act independently, performing at open mics with Edebiri and sharing uproarious (and very) weird online content digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed characters intensely fixated on having babies; another envisioned being employed at the brand Hollister as akin to being caught in a thriller. By chance, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a religious event with echoes of the intense thriller. The big theme of her journey, she says, has been people her own age supporting her, instead of traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, adding humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who questioned regarding Sennott previously will surely be feeling foolish now. As part of she describes as a “astonishingly complete” story, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. Previously she shared a video called about Los Angeles online, in which she parodied movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a series about city dwellers managing the perks of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). Some could simple to make a program about digital influence that was extremely aspirational—or, more problematic, one that mocked at its subjects. I Love LA steers clear of each, making for a representation of privileged millennial existence that’s honest about the grot and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
