Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and right away starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, sounding genuinely apologetic. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, 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!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is just what one hopes to experience. Additionally, it’s pretty predictable. Viewers who know the fearlessly openly gay and brash project Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside close companion The Bear’s standout—would already know that she holds plenty to say, ranging from about identity, intimacy, or the pros of starting a youth brawl society. And, once you finish the recent seasonal program titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has additional thoughts regarding the struggles of modern youth (At 30, she serves as a relatable figure for this generation, straddling eras adept for bridging different age groups).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, naming it alongside Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for the project, which follows the struggles of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also new talent manager Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the largest influence on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, the show focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy entertainment industry (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it throughout the pandemic, became “captivated”, and chose to add a fresh perspective 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 inspiration for the series emerged—in part—from her own, originally fractious, transition to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about phenomenon for astrology heads. It was an era that included her learn major insights, professionally and personally. “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. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Brought up in New England, Sennott commenced developing and showcasing stand-up while enrolled in performance at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at open mics with Edebiri and posting hilarious (and very) unconventional comedy videos online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women obsessively obsessed with having babies; another portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being caught in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a religious event with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her path, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, rather than traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, stating humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Those who questioned about Sennott earlier will certainly be regretting it now. In what she labels a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she appears to manifested the perfect project. In 2019 she posted a video named on LA life on the internet, in which she mocked movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a comedy about LA residents managing advantages of internet fame (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a substance-abusing stealer, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). It would be easy to produce a show about digital influence that was overly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at those depicted. I Love LA avoids both, creating a portrait of advantaged millennial life that’s candid about the chaos and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
