Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and right away starts an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, sounding really remorseful. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, she feels compelled to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, in this context, this is just what is ideal to experience. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Viewers familiar with her boldly queer and outspoken project titled Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with the director and appeared in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—would already know that she possesses much to say, ranging from on identity, sex, or the appeal of starting a teen combat group. Plus, once you finish the latest multi-episode HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she has even more thoughts regarding the challenges of young adulthood (At 30, she serves as a bridge for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for bridging different age groups).
Influences and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott is an admirer, naming the show in addition to the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for the project, which follows the travails of a social media star Tallulah and close companion and aspiring talent manager Sennott’s character. However, the most significant influence on creative vision went to Entourage, that show depicting an emerging celebrity making his way in a gritty entertainment industry (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it amid the pandemic, became “captivated”, and decided to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The idea for I Love LA originated—in part—from firsthand, originally difficult, move to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a popular event for astrology heads. This represented a time that saw her learn major life lessons, in her career and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott commenced developing and showcasing stand-up while enrolled in acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at open mics with Ayo and posting hysterical (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women intensely obsessed with having babies; another imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through NYU’s movie community and ultimately appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a Jewish wake with hints of the intense thriller. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, as opposed to the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who had doubts about Sennott earlier will certainly be feeling foolish today. As part of she labels a “astonishingly complete” development, she seems to have created the perfect project. In 2019 she shared a clip called “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a show about LA residents balancing benefits of internet fame (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled thief, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). It would be simple to create a series about internet celebrity that was horribly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at those depicted. This show does neither, creating a representation of privileged millennial life that’s candid about the mess and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
