Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and at once begins an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, sounding really apologetic. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, she wants to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, in this context, this is just what one hopes to encounter. Additionally, it’s fairly predictable. Those familiar with the boldly queer and brash film titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and featured in together with close companion Ayo Edebiri—can already know that Sennott has a lot to say, ranging from about identity, intimacy, or the appeal of forming a youth brawl society. And, by the end her new multi-episode show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star carries even more insights regarding the darker side of modern youth (Now in her thirties, she represents an honorary member for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, citing the show alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as guides for the project, which details the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also new representative portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the most significant presence on concept went to the popular sitcom, that program depicting an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in a gritty Hollywood (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it during COVID-19, became “captivated”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The inspiration for the series emerged—partly—from firsthand, initially difficult, relocation to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. That period marked a time that included her grasp significant life lessons, professionally and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott started writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “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?”
She seized control, taking the stage at amateur nights with Edebiri and posting hysterical (and very) bizarre skits on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, followed characters obsessively obsessed with having babies; a different one envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being caught in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her path, she explains, has been peers giving her a shot, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who had doubts about Sennott previously will certainly be feeling foolish currently. Through she calls a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she shared content titled about Los Angeles online, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about Angelenos balancing advantages of internet fame (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being labeled as being a intoxicated stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable pariah). One might simple to make a program about internet celebrity that was extremely idealized—or, worse, one that belittled at those depicted. This show avoids both, resulting in a portrait of privileged millennial life that’s honest about the grot and the shine.
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
