Rachel Sennott exploring her uproarious series about that chaotic allure of younger generation life
The star appears on the digital interview and right away begins an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, appearing really regretful. She is only a bit late, she feels compelled to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s precisely what you want to experience. Besides, it’s pretty predictable. Viewers who have seen the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and brash film titled Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and featured in together with her friend Ayo Edebiri—will already know that Sennott possesses a lot to share, ranging from about identity, intimacy, or the merits of starting a teen brawl society. And, by the end her recent eight-part show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star holds further thoughts on the struggles of modern youth (At 30, she serves as a relatable figure to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial skilled for bridging both generations).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges enthusiastic, referencing the show together with the HBO hit, Insecure and the innovative program as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and close companion who is also aspiring representative Sennott’s character. However, the biggest influence on concept belonged to the HBO series, the program about an emerging celebrity succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She began viewing it during the pandemic, became “hooked”, and decided to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The concept for the series originated—to some extent—from personal, originally rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about occurrence for enthusiasts. That period marked a phase that saw her learn some big insights, work-wise and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Raised in New England, Sennott started writing and performing comedy while studying acting at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She seized control, taking the stage at amateur nights with Edebiri and posting hilarious (and very) bizarre online content digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; another portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a religious event with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her path, she says, has been peers giving her a shot, instead of established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who were skeptical about Sennott earlier will certainly be regretting it currently. In what she describes as a “wild, full-circle” development, she appears to created the perfect project. Previously she posted content titled about Los Angeles online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a comedy about city dwellers balancing benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being labeled as being a drug-addled criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). One might tempting to create a show about internet celebrity that was horribly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, creating a depiction of advantaged millennial existence that’s honest about the chaos and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“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