Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and immediately starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, seeming truly remorseful. Although she's only slightly delayed, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, during an interview, that’s exactly what is ideal to hear. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Anyone who have seen her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken film Bottoms—that she co-wrote with her creative partner and starred in together with collaborator The Bear’s standout—can be aware that she possesses much to say, ranging from on identity, relationships, or the pros of forming a teen fight club. Plus, once you finish the recent seasonal program I Love LA, it is clear that the star has even more thoughts on the struggles of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott is a bridge for this generation, on the cusp adept for bridging different age groups).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being a fan, naming it together with Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the journey of a social media star Tallulah and close companion who is also new talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the biggest influence on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, that show about an up-and-coming Hollywood star navigating in a corrupt entertainment industry (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it throughout COVID-19, became “captivated”, and decided 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 idea for this project originated—in part—from personal, originally difficult, move to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about event for astrology heads. This represented a phase that saw her grasp some big truths, in her career and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in New England, Sennott began creating and acting humor while pursuing acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott decided to act independently, performing at open mics with Edebiri and uploading uproarious (and very) weird online content online. One, Baby Cult, followed a group of women obsessively fixated on pregnancy; another imagined being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being stuck in a scary movie. Interestingly, she met Seligman through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a funeral gathering with shades of the intense thriller. The central motif of her path, she notes, has been peers offering opportunities, instead of established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, stating with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who were skeptical about Sennott previously will certainly be regretting it currently. As part of she calls a “incredibly circular” development, she appears to achieved an ideal role. Previously she uploaded content called on LA life on social media, in which she mocked film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a show about Angelenos managing the perks of digital stardom (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being accused of being a substance-abusing stealer, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). One might easy to create a show about internet celebrity that was horribly glamorous—or, worse, one that punched down at those depicted. I Love LA does neither, creating a portrait of privileged millennial living that’s candid about the mess and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
