Rachel Sennott appears on the digital interview and at once starts an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely apologetic. Although she's only slightly delayed, she needs to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is just what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Those who have seen the unapologetically openly gay and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—that she co-wrote with her creative partner and featured in together with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—will be aware that Sennott possesses a lot to share, be it on roles, relationships, or the appeal of forming a high-school brawl society. Furthermore, after watching her new eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star holds even more thoughts on the struggles of young adulthood (At 30, she represents an honorary member of the gang, straddling eras skilled for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Creative Vision
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges enthusiastic, naming the show in addition to Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as influences for the project, which details the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also aspiring representative Maia. However, the most significant presence on concept went to Entourage, the HBO sitcom about an up-and-coming A-list actor navigating in a gritty LA scene (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She began viewing it amid COVID-19, became “captivated”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The inspiration for the series came—to some extent—from firsthand, initially difficult, relocation to LA and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about phenomenon for astrology heads. It was a time that included her understand some big life lessons, in her career and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott 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 explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott decided to act independently, performing at live shows with her friend and sharing uproarious (and decidedly) unconventional skits on the internet. One, Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely drawn to motherhood; a different one envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being trapped in a horror film. Interestingly, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her path, she says, has been peers giving her a shot, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, stating with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Those who were skeptical about her earlier will certainly be regretting it currently. In what she describes as a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she has achieved an ideal role. In 2019 she uploaded content called “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a show about city dwellers juggling the perks of internet fame (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). Some could tempting to produce a program about online fame that was horribly idealized—or, worse, one that belittled at the characters. I Love LA steers clear of each, creating a depiction of affluent young adult existence that’s candid about the grot and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
