Rachel Sennott enters the video call and at once begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, sounding truly remorseful. Although she's only slightly delayed, she needs to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, during an interview, that’s exactly what one hopes to experience. Additionally, it’s quite unsurprising. Those familiar with the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—that she co-wrote with the director and featured in alongside collaborator The Bear’s standout—will be aware that Sennott has a lot to share, whether about roles, sex, or the merits of forming a high-school fight club. Plus, after watching her new eight-part show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she carries further insights regarding the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she represents a bridge to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial skilled for connecting both generations).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, naming it in addition to the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as influences for her series, which follows the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and new agent Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the biggest influence on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, that program focusing on an emerging Hollywood star making his way in a gritty LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it amid the pandemic, became “captivated”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective 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 says. The concept for I Love LA originated—partly—from her own, at first fractious, relocation to LA and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for astrology heads. It was a time that involved her grasp some big truths, professionally and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in New England, the star began creating and acting stand-up while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at amateur nights with her friend and uploading hysterical (and very) unconventional skits online. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters intensely drawn to having babies; a different one imagined working at the brand Hollister as like being caught in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up starring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a religious event with echoes of the intense thriller. The big theme of her journey, she says, has been peers giving her a shot, instead of traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she repeats, stating with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who were skeptical about her earlier will certainly be kicking themselves now. As part of she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she has created the perfect project. Previously she shared content named on LA life on social media, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a show about LA residents juggling benefits of online celebrity (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a risky outcast). It would be simple to create a program about digital influence that was overly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at the characters. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a depiction of affluent young adult existence that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” she observes. “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
