Rachel Sennott enters the video call and at once begins an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, sounding truly regretful. Although she's only a couple of minutes behind, she wants to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, during an interview, that’s exactly what you want to hear. Besides, it’s quite predictable. Those who know her boldly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—which she collaborated on with the director and appeared in with her friend the talented actress—will already know that she possesses much to discuss, be it on identity, intimacy, or the pros of creating a high-school brawl society. And, by the end her recent multi-episode show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds even more thoughts about the struggles of young adulthood (As a millennial, she represents an honorary member for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and Sennott admits to being a fan, naming the show together with Sex and the City, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for the project, which details the struggles of online personality Tallulah and ally and new talent manager Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the most significant influence on creative vision belonged to Entourage, that HBO sitcom depicting an emerging celebrity making his way in a corrupt Hollywood (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott started watching it throughout lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The idea for this project came—to some extent—from her own, at first rocky, relocation to LA and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for followers. It was a time that included her learn significant insights, professionally and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Brought up in New England, Sennott commenced creating and acting stand-up while enrolled in theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott seized control, taking the stage at live shows with Ayo and posting hysterical (and very) unconventional online content on the internet. One, Baby Cult, depicted characters intensely obsessed with pregnancy; another imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being trapped in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up starring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her path, she explains, has been contemporaries supporting her, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, stating with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who were skeptical about Sennott then will likely be kicking themselves today. Through she labels a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she has achieved her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted a video called “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she mocked film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a show about Angelenos managing the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). One might easy to create a program about digital influence that was overly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at the characters. The series steers clear of each, creating a depiction of privileged millennial living that’s honest about the grot and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
