Rachel Sennott joins the video call and right away launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely apologetic. Although she's only a bit delayed, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, during an interview, that’s precisely what is ideal to hear. Moreover, it’s fairly predictable. Viewers familiar with the fearlessly queer and brash movie Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with the director and appeared in together with her friend Ayo Edebiri—can understand that Sennott possesses plenty to share, ranging from about gender, intimacy, or the pros of forming a youth brawl society. And, by the end her new seasonal program titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she has even more perspectives regarding the darker side of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she represents a relatable figure for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for bridging different age groups).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, referencing the show in addition to the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as influences for I Love LA, which follows the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the largest presence on concept went to the HBO series, that program focusing on an emerging Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it amid lockdown, became “hooked”, and resolved to create a new version 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 notes. The inspiration for I Love LA originated—in part—from firsthand, at first rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from the saturn return, a much-talked-about phenomenon for astrology heads. It was an era that saw her understand some big truths, in her career and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott began creating and acting comedy while pursuing acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” 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 decided to act independently, taking the stage at amateur nights with her friend and sharing uproarious (and decidedly) weird comedy videos online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically drawn to having babies; a different one portrayed being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being caught in a thriller. By chance, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a Jewish wake with echoes of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her career, she says, has been peers giving her a shot, instead of the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, adding amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who had doubts about Sennott previously will certainly be kicking themselves currently. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” development, she has achieved the perfect project. A few years back she shared a video called “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she mocked movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a show about LA residents balancing the perks of digital stardom (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). It would be tempting to produce a series about digital influence that was overly idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a representation of advantaged millennial living that’s honest about the chaos and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
