Rachel Sennott appears on the online meeting and right away launches into an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, sounding really remorseful. Although she's only a couple of minutes delayed, she wants to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s precisely what you want to hear. Moreover, it’s fairly predictable. Those familiar with the unapologetically openly gay and outspoken movie Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and appeared in together with close companion the talented actress—would already know that Sennott holds much to say, ranging from about roles, intimacy, or the pros of forming a high-school brawl society. Furthermore, by the end her latest eight-part program I Love LA, it is clear that she carries additional insights on the struggles of Gen Z life (At 30, Sennott serves as an honorary member for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress is enthusiastic, naming the show alongside Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as guides for I Love LA, which follows the journey of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also fledgling representative portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the biggest influence on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, that program about an emerging celebrity making his way in a corrupt Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it throughout lockdown, became “hooked”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The inspiration for I Love LA came—partly—from her own, initially difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a popular occurrence for followers. It was a phase that involved her grasp major insights, work-wise and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott began writing and performing humor while studying performance at a prestigious arts school. “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. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She seized control, performing at amateur nights with her friend and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) unconventional online content digitally. One, Baby Cult, centered on several females obsessively drawn to motherhood; another imagined working at the brand Hollister as similar to being trapped in a scary movie. By chance, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her career, she says, has been peers giving her a shot, as opposed to established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who had doubts about her then will likely be regretting it today. Through she describes as a “incredibly circular” story, she has manifested an ideal role. Previously she shared a video called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a comedy about Angelenos balancing benefits of internet fame (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being suspected of being a drug-addled thief, and possibly becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be simple to produce a show about online fame that was overly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at the characters. This show does neither, resulting in a depiction of affluent millennial existence that’s frank about the mess and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
