Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and immediately begins an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing really apologetic. Although she's only slightly behind, she feels compelled to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, during an interview, that’s exactly what one hopes to encounter. Additionally, it’s quite predictable. Those familiar with the unapologetically openly gay and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—that she collaborated on with the director and starred in together with close companion Ayo Edebiri—can already know that Sennott possesses plenty to say, be it on identity, intimacy, or the appeal of forming a teen fight club. Furthermore, after watching her new seasonal program I Love LA, it is clear that the star has additional insights on the struggles of Gen Z life (At 30, Sennott is an honorary member of the gang, straddling eras skilled for bridging different age groups).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, referencing it together with the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as influences for the project, which follows the struggles of online personality Tallulah and ally and new agent Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the biggest influence on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, that show focusing on a rising A-list actor making his way in a gritty LA scene (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it during COVID-19, became “captivated”, and resolved to create a new version 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 notes. The inspiration for I Love LA came—partly—from personal, initially difficult, transition to LA and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about event for astrology heads. It was a time that saw her learn significant truths, work-wise and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Raised in New England, the star began writing and performing comedy while pursuing acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” 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. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott seized control, performing at live shows with her friend and posting hilarious (and very) weird comedy videos online. One, Baby Cult, followed a group of women fetishistically obsessed with pregnancy; a different one imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being trapped in a horror film. By chance, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her journey, she explains, has been contemporaries supporting her, instead of traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, adding with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Anyone who questioned about her previously will surely be feeling foolish currently. Through she describes as a “astonishingly complete” development, she seems to have created the perfect project. In 2019 she posted a video titled about Los Angeles on social media, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a show about Angelenos balancing benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being suspected of being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a risky outcast). One might simple to produce a series about digital influence that was horribly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that belittled at its subjects. This show does neither, making for a portrait of privileged young adult living that’s honest about the mess and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
