Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and immediately launches into an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, sounding really remorseful. Despite being only slightly behind, she wants 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!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is precisely what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s quite predictable. Anyone familiar with the boldly LGBTQ+ and brash project titled Bottoms—that she penned with her creative partner and appeared in alongside close companion the talented actress—can be aware that she holds plenty to discuss, be it on roles, relationships, or the merits of creating a youth brawl society. And, by the end her latest seasonal show I Love LA, it is clear that she carries even more thoughts regarding the darker side of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as an honorary member to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress is a fan, naming it together with the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the travails of an influencer Tallulah and ally who is also fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the largest presence on creative vision belonged to the popular sitcom, the HBO sitcom focusing on an emerging Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy LA scene (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She started watching it during the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose 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 inspiration for I Love LA originated—to some extent—from personal, originally fractious, relocation to Tinseltown and from the cosmic event, a popular event for astrology heads. This represented an era that saw her learn major truths, work-wise and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott started writing and performing 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 states. “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?”
Sennott seized control, performing at open mics with Ayo and uploading hilarious (and distinctly) unconventional skits digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women obsessively obsessed with having babies; another envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as like being trapped in a horror film. By chance, she met Emma through campus film circles and eventually starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a religious event with hints of the intense thriller. The big theme of her career, she explains, has been contemporaries supporting her, rather than established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, stating with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who had doubts regarding her previously will likely be regretting it today. As part of she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to achieved the perfect project. Previously she shared a video named about Los Angeles on social media, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a show about city dwellers managing benefits of online celebrity (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and possibly becoming a risky pariah). Some could simple to create a series about internet celebrity that was horribly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a depiction of affluent twentysomething life that’s candid about the grot and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
