Rachel Sennott appears on the digital interview and right away starts an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing genuinely apologetic. Although she's only a couple of minutes behind, she feels compelled to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s exactly what you want to hear. Besides, it’s fairly unsurprising. Those who have seen the unapologetically openly gay and brash movie Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and appeared in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—will be aware that she possesses a lot to say, be it on gender, sex, or the merits of forming a high-school brawl society. And, after watching the new multi-episode show titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star carries even more thoughts regarding the darker side of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she is an honorary member for this generation, straddling eras skilled for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott is a fan, citing it alongside the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as influences for I Love LA, which tracks the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also fledgling talent manager Maia. Notably, the largest presence on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, the program about an emerging celebrity navigating in a corrupt LA scene (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She started watching it amid lockdown, 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 came—to some extent—from firsthand, originally difficult, move to LA and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. It was a time that included her learn significant life lessons, professionally and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced creating and acting stand-up while pursuing performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott decided to act independently, performing at live shows with Edebiri and posting uproarious (and very) unconventional online content on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed a group of women intensely fixated on motherhood; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being caught in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and ended up featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she explains, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, stating humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Individuals who questioned about Sennott then will certainly be feeling foolish currently. In what she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she posted a video named on LA life on social media, in which she mocked movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a series about Angelenos managing advantages of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your associate being suspected of being a substance-abusing criminal, and potentially becoming a unreliable pariah). One might tempting to make a show about digital influence that was extremely glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at those depicted. The series steers clear of each, resulting in a portrait of affluent young adult existence that’s frank about the chaos and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she comments. “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
