Rachel Sennott joins the video call and immediately launches into an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, sounding really remorseful. Although she's only slightly late, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s precisely what is ideal to encounter. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone familiar with the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—that she penned with Emma Seligman and featured in together with close companion The Bear’s standout—would understand that she holds plenty to discuss, be it on gender, intimacy, or the pros of creating a high-school fight club. Plus, once you finish the recent seasonal show titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star carries further thoughts on the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she represents a relatable figure for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, naming it together with Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the struggles of online personality Tallulah and close companion who is also aspiring agent Maia. However, the biggest presence on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, the show about an up-and-coming A-list actor making his way in a corrupt Hollywood (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it during the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The inspiration for the series came—in part—from her own, initially fractious, move to LA and from her cosmic event, a popular phenomenon for astrology heads. This represented a time that saw her learn major insights, in her career and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott started writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She seized control, taking the stage at live shows with Edebiri and uploading hilarious (and very) unconventional comedy videos digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women fetishistically obsessed with pregnancy; another envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being caught in a thriller. Interestingly, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a religious event with shades of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her path, she notes, has been peers supporting her, instead of traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, adding amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who were skeptical regarding her earlier will certainly be feeling foolish currently. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she appears to manifested an ideal role. Previously she uploaded a video named about Los Angeles on social media, in which she lampooned film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a comedy about LA residents balancing benefits of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing criminal, and possibly becoming a risky pariah). One might tempting to make a series about internet celebrity that was extremely idealized—or, more problematic, one that punched down at the characters. I Love LA steers clear of each, creating a portrait of advantaged millennial life that’s honest about the mess and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she observes. “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
