Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and right away launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming truly remorseful. Although she's only slightly behind, she needs to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, in this context, this is precisely what you want to encounter. Besides, it’s quite expected. Viewers who know her boldly queer and outspoken movie Bottoms—that she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—can understand that Sennott has plenty to discuss, whether about gender, sex, or the pros of forming a high-school fight club. Furthermore, after watching her new seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star carries further thoughts about the struggles of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she is a bridge for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for connecting different age groups).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress is an admirer, citing the show alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and the innovative program as influences for I Love LA, which details the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and new representative portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the most significant spot on creative vision was reserved for the HBO series, the program depicting a rising celebrity succeeding in a corrupt LA scene (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it amid lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose 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 emerged—partly—from personal, initially difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about occurrence for astrology heads. This represented a phase that saw her learn major life lessons, 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. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Growing up in New England, Sennott began developing and showcasing comedy while studying acting at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” 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. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She decided to act independently, performing at amateur nights with Ayo and sharing hilarious (and very) bizarre comedy videos online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically fixated on pregnancy; another portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a horror film. By chance, she connected with Seligman through the university’s film scene and ended up appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a funeral gathering with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her path, she says, has been peers giving her a shot, rather than established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who were skeptical regarding her then will surely be regretting it currently. As part of she calls a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she has created the perfect project. A few years back she uploaded a clip called on LA life on the internet, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a show about city dwellers balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your associate being suspected of being a substance-abusing stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). Some could simple to make a series about internet celebrity that was extremely idealized—or, worse, one that mocked at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, making for a portrait of privileged millennial living that’s honest about the mess and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
