Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and immediately starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, seeming genuinely apologetic. Although she's only a bit delayed, she wants to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, in this context, this is just what one hopes to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty predictable. Viewers who have seen her boldly openly gay and outspoken movie Bottoms—that she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and appeared in with her friend Ayo Edebiri—would understand that Sennott holds plenty to share, be it on roles, sex, or the merits of creating a youth combat group. Plus, after watching the new seasonal program I Love LA, it is clear that the star has further thoughts regarding the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she is a bridge for this generation, a tale-end millennial skilled for straddling both generations).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott is a fan, referencing the show together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for her series, which tracks the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and her friend who is also aspiring agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest influence on the moodboard went to Entourage, that show focusing on an emerging Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy LA scene (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it during lockdown, became “captivated”, and decided to add a fresh perspective 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 idea for this project came—partly—from personal, initially fractious, move to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that included her learn major life lessons, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott began writing and performing comedy while enrolled in acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “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. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She decided to act independently, performing at open mics with her friend and uploading hilarious (and distinctly) bizarre skits on the internet. One, Baby Cult, followed a group of women obsessively obsessed with having babies; another envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being stuck in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her journey, she says, has been people her own age supporting her, instead of established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she repeats, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Individuals who were skeptical regarding her then will certainly be kicking themselves today. As part of she describes as a “wild, full-circle” development, she seems to have manifested an ideal role. Previously she shared content titled on LA life online, 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 series about city dwellers managing the perks of internet fame (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). One might simple to produce a series about online fame that was overly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a portrait of privileged millennial existence that’s candid about the mess and the appeal.
Empathetic Approach
“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
