Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and immediately launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, seeming truly remorseful. She is only a couple of minutes behind, she feels compelled to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, in this context, that’s just what one hopes to experience. Besides, it’s fairly predictable. Those who have seen the boldly queer and brash project titled Bottoms—which she collaborated on with the director and featured in alongside close companion the talented actress—will understand that Sennott holds plenty to discuss, be it on identity, intimacy, or the pros of forming a teen brawl society. Furthermore, once you finish her new eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries even more thoughts on the challenges of Gen Z life (At 30, she serves as an honorary member for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Parallels to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress is an admirer, citing the show together with Sex and the City, Insecure and the innovative program as influences for I Love LA, which tracks the journey of online personality Tallulah and close companion who is also fledgling representative Maia. However, the largest influence on concept went to the popular sitcom, that program depicting an up-and-coming A-list actor navigating in a corrupt LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it amid lockdown, became “hooked”, and decided to put her own twist 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 this project originated—to some extent—from personal, initially rocky, transition to LA and from the astrological phase, a frequently discussed event for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that saw her grasp major insights, in her career and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott began writing and performing stand-up while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She seized control, taking the stage at live shows with Ayo and posting hilarious (and distinctly) unconventional online content on the internet. One, Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely obsessed with pregnancy; another portrayed working at the brand Hollister as akin to being trapped in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of the intense thriller. The big theme of her career, she says, has been people her own age supporting her, as opposed to traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who questioned regarding her then will certainly be feeling foolish now. In what she labels a “wild, full-circle” development, she appears to created an ideal role. Previously she shared a clip called “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers juggling advantages of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your client being labeled as being a substance-abusing thief, and possibly becoming a risky outcast). Some could simple to create a show about online fame that was overly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA steers clear of each, resulting in a representation of affluent millennial living that’s honest about the mess and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“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
