Rachel Sennott appears on the online meeting and at once starts an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, seeming genuinely regretful. Although she's only slightly late, she needs to clarify. “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, for a writer, that’s precisely what one hopes to encounter. Additionally, it’s fairly predictable. Viewers familiar with the fearlessly openly gay and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in together with her friend the talented actress—will already know that Sennott possesses a lot to share, be it on roles, relationships, or the appeal of creating a youth fight club. Furthermore, by the end her new multi-episode program I Love LA, it is clear that she carries additional perspectives on the struggles of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott is a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp skilled for connecting different age groups).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, referencing the show together with the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for the project, which tracks the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also fledgling agent Maia. Notably, the biggest spot on concept went to the HBO series, the program focusing on an up-and-coming A-list actor making his way in an often-seedy LA scene (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it amid lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose 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 notes. The concept for the series came—to some extent—from personal, at first fractious, transition to LA and from her saturn return, a popular event for enthusiasts. This represented an era that saw her understand major truths, professionally and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “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 the East Coast, Sennott began creating and acting stand-up while pursuing performance at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with her friend and posting hysterical (and very) bizarre comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females intensely fixated on having babies; a different one portrayed working at the brand Hollister as similar to being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and eventually appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her career, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, instead of traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she repeats, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who were skeptical regarding her previously will surely be regretting it today. Through she calls a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she seems to have manifested the perfect project. In 2019 she shared a video called about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about LA residents balancing benefits of internet fame (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your associate being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). One might tempting to create a show about internet celebrity that was extremely glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at those depicted. I Love LA avoids both, creating a representation of advantaged millennial living that’s honest about the grot and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she says. “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
