Rachel Sennott appears on the digital interview and right away begins an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely remorseful. Although she's only a bit delayed, she feels compelled to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is exactly what one hopes to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty expected. Those who have seen her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken movie Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in with her friend Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that Sennott possesses plenty to say, be it on roles, intimacy, or the merits of starting a high-school fight club. Plus, by the end her new multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that the star holds further thoughts on the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott is a bridge for this generation, a tale-end millennial adept for bridging different age groups).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott is an admirer, naming the show in addition to the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as influences for the project, which details the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also aspiring agent Maia. Notably, the largest presence on creative vision went to the popular sitcom, the program about an up-and-coming A-list actor navigating in a corrupt Hollywood (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it during lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The inspiration for this project originated—to some extent—from personal, at first fractious, move to LA and from the saturn return, a much-talked-about phenomenon for followers. That period marked a phase that included her understand major life lessons, in her career and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Raised in Connecticut, the star commenced creating and acting stand-up while studying acting at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “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. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She seized control, taking the stage at amateur nights with her friend and posting hysterical (and distinctly) bizarre skits on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed several females intensely obsessed with motherhood; a different one portrayed working at the brand Hollister as similar to being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her career, she notes, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, instead of the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Anyone who had doubts about Sennott earlier will likely be kicking themselves currently. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she appears to created the perfect project. A few years back she uploaded a video named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a series about LA residents balancing benefits of internet fame (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled thief, and possibly becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be tempting to create a show about internet celebrity that was overly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at the characters. This show steers clear of each, creating a portrait of advantaged young adult existence that’s honest about the mess and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
