Rachel Sennott joins the online meeting and at once launches into an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, seeming genuinely regretful. Despite being only a bit behind, she needs to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s precisely what you want to encounter. Additionally, it’s quite predictable. Those familiar with her boldly openly gay and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in together with close companion Ayo Edebiri—can already know that she holds plenty to share, ranging from on identity, sex, or the pros of starting a teen brawl society. And, after watching the new eight-part program I Love LA, viewers realize that she has even more insights about the struggles of Gen Z life (At 30, Sennott represents a relatable figure of the gang, straddling eras with a knack for straddling different age groups).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, citing the show in addition to the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the travails of an influencer Tallulah and her friend and new talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the largest presence on creative vision belonged to the popular sitcom, the program focusing on a rising celebrity navigating in a gritty Hollywood (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She began viewing it amid COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The inspiration for I Love LA came—in part—from her own, originally fractious, move to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a popular phenomenon for followers. It was an era that involved her grasp significant truths, work-wise and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott commenced creating and acting humor while pursuing acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “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.”
She took matters into her own hands, appearing at live shows with her friend and uploading uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre skits on the internet. One, Baby Cult, depicted several females intensely drawn to having babies; another portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as akin to being caught in a scary movie. By chance, she connected with Seligman through the university’s film scene and ended up starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a Jewish wake with shades of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her path, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Anyone who questioned regarding Sennott previously will surely be kicking themselves now. In what she calls a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she appears to created the perfect project. Previously she posted content named “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about LA residents juggling the perks of digital stardom (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). Some could simple to create a program about digital influence that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that punched down at those depicted. I Love LA does neither, making for a portrait of affluent millennial life that’s honest about the chaos and the glamour.
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
