Rachel Sennott appears on the digital interview and immediately launches into an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, appearing genuinely remorseful. Despite being only slightly delayed, she feels compelled to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is exactly what is ideal to experience. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Those who have seen the boldly openly gay and brash movie Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with her creative partner and appeared in with her friend Ayo Edebiri—will already know that she has plenty to say, whether about gender, relationships, or the pros of starting a high-school fight club. Plus, by the end the recent eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries additional perspectives on the challenges of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott serves as an honorary member of the gang, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting different age groups).
Influences and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges an admirer, referencing the show in addition to the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the journey of online personality Tallulah and her friend and new talent manager Sennott’s character. However, the most significant spot on the moodboard belonged to Entourage, the HBO sitcom depicting an up-and-coming celebrity succeeding in a corrupt Hollywood (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it amid the pandemic, became “captivated”, and decided to put her own twist 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 idea for I Love LA came—to some extent—from her own, initially fractious, move to LA and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about event for astrology heads. It was a phase that included her learn significant truths, work-wise and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Raised in New England, Sennott started creating and acting comedy while enrolled in performance at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with her friend and uploading uproarious (and distinctly) weird comedy videos on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, followed characters intensely obsessed with motherhood; a different one envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a scary movie. By chance, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the intense thriller. The central motif of her journey, she explains, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, rather than established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, stating humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who had doubts regarding Sennott previously will certainly be feeling foolish today. Through she labels a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she seems to have created an ideal role. In 2019 she uploaded content called “it’s LA” online, in which she mocked movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about Angelenos managing the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). Some could tempting to produce a series about online fame that was horribly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at the characters. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a representation of advantaged young adult life that’s frank about the mess and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“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
