Rachel Sennott enters the video call and at once starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, appearing genuinely apologetic. Despite being only a couple of minutes delayed, she needs to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s just what is ideal to hear. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Viewers familiar with the boldly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—can already know that Sennott holds a lot to share, whether about gender, sex, or the pros of creating a high-school combat group. Furthermore, once you finish her recent multi-episode show titled I Love LA, it is clear that she carries even more thoughts on the struggles of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she represents a relatable figure of the gang, a tale-end millennial adept for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott is enthusiastic, naming the show together with the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which follows the journey of online personality Tallulah and ally who is also fledgling representative portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the biggest spot on concept was reserved for the popular sitcom, the program about a rising Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it amid lockdown, became “hooked”, 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 notes. The inspiration for I Love LA originated—partly—from firsthand, originally difficult, relocation to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for astrology heads. This represented a time that involved her learn major insights, professionally and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in New England, Sennott started writing and performing comedy while enrolled in acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at live shows with Ayo and sharing hysterical (and distinctly) bizarre online content digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively obsessed with having babies; a different one imagined working at the brand Hollister as similar to being trapped in a scary movie. By chance, she connected with Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her journey, she explains, has been people her own age giving her a shot, rather than the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Individuals who were skeptical about her earlier will likely be feeling foolish now. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she seems to have achieved an ideal role. A few years back she shared a clip called “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a show about city dwellers balancing benefits of digital stardom (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your client being suspected of being a drug-addled criminal, and possibly becoming a risky pariah). One might tempting to produce a program about digital influence that was extremely idealized—or, more problematic, one that belittled at its subjects. This show steers clear of each, making for a representation of advantaged millennial life that’s honest about the grot and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she comments. “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
