Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and at once launches into an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, sounding genuinely regretful. Despite being only slightly delayed, she needs to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is just what you want to encounter. Moreover, it’s quite expected. Anyone who know her fearlessly openly gay and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—that she collaborated on with the director and appeared in alongside close companion the talented actress—will be aware that she possesses a lot to discuss, whether on roles, intimacy, or the pros of forming a high-school fight club. And, by the end her new eight-part show I Love LA, it is clear that the star has further thoughts about the darker side of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she serves as an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp skilled for bridging both generations).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott admits to being a fan, citing the show in addition to Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as guides for the project, which tracks the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and new talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the biggest presence on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, the show focusing on a rising celebrity succeeding in a gritty entertainment industry (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The idea for I Love LA originated—in part—from her own, initially difficult, relocation to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a popular occurrence for astrology heads. This represented an era that saw her learn some big insights, in her career and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in the East Coast, the star started developing and showcasing stand-up while studying theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She seized control, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and uploading hilarious (and very) weird comedy videos digitally. One, Baby Cult, followed a group of women fetishistically drawn to motherhood; another imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her path, she says, has been people her own age offering opportunities, instead of the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, adding with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Individuals who questioned about her then will certainly be feeling foolish today. Through she labels a “incredibly circular” development, she appears to created the perfect project. In 2019 she posted content named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about LA residents managing benefits of digital stardom (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being suspected of being a drug-addled thief, and potentially becoming a unreliable pariah). One might tempting to create a series about online fame that was overly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at its subjects. This show does neither, creating a portrait of advantaged young adult life that’s candid about the grot and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
