Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and right away launches into an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, appearing really regretful. Although she's only a bit late, she wants to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is exactly what is ideal to experience. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone who have seen the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and brash project Bottoms—that she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and starred in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—will already know that Sennott holds plenty to say, whether on roles, relationships, or the pros of forming a teen combat group. Plus, once you finish her latest multi-episode show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she carries additional insights about the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, she represents an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp with a knack for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, naming the show together with the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for her series, which follows the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also fledgling talent manager Sennott’s character. Notably, the most significant influence on creative vision belonged to Entourage, that HBO sitcom about an emerging A-list actor making his way in an often-seedy entertainment industry (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it throughout the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The concept for the series originated—partly—from her own, initially rocky, transition to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed occurrence for enthusiasts. It was a time that included her learn major truths, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in New England, the star commenced creating and acting stand-up while pursuing theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “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. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott seized control, performing at amateur nights with Edebiri and sharing hilarious (and very) bizarre skits online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women obsessively drawn to having babies; a different one imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being caught in a scary movie. By chance, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her path, she explains, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, rather than the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, stating humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Anyone who were skeptical regarding her previously will certainly be regretting it now. In what she labels a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she has created an ideal role. In 2019 she shared a video named on LA life on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a series about Angelenos balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being suspected of being a substance-abusing stealer, and possibly becoming a risky persona non grata). It would be simple to produce a show about online fame that was horribly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA steers clear of each, making for a portrait of privileged young adult living that’s honest about the grot and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“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
