Rachel Sennott enters the video call and at once begins an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, appearing truly apologetic. She is only slightly late, she needs to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, in this context, this is precisely what you want to experience. Moreover, it’s quite expected. Those who know her fearlessly openly gay and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—which she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and appeared in with her friend the talented actress—can already know that Sennott possesses much to discuss, whether on identity, intimacy, or the merits of starting a teen combat group. Plus, once you finish the latest eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star has further perspectives on the darker side of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a bridge to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial adept for straddling both generations).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott is enthusiastic, referencing the show in addition to the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as guides for her series, which follows the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and new talent manager Maia. Perhaps, the largest presence on the moodboard went to the HBO series, that show focusing on an up-and-coming celebrity making his way in a gritty LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott started watching it throughout the pandemic, became “captivated”, and resolved to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The concept for I Love LA originated—partly—from firsthand, at first rocky, move to LA and from her cosmic event, a popular phenomenon for followers. It was a time that included her learn major life lessons, work-wise and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Growing up in New England, Sennott began creating and acting humor while pursuing theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” 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 took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at open mics with Ayo and posting uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre skits on the internet. One, Baby Cult, followed several females obsessively drawn to pregnancy; another portrayed being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being caught in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her path, she explains, has been peers offering opportunities, rather than traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, adding with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who had doubts about Sennott previously will surely be feeling foolish today. Through she calls a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she has manifested her dream vehicle. Previously she uploaded a clip called on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers managing the perks of digital stardom (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a unreliable persona non grata). One might simple to make a show about digital influence that was horribly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at the characters. The series steers clear of each, resulting in a depiction of advantaged young adult living that’s candid about the mess and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“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
