The actress and writer exploring her uproarious show portraying that messy allure of younger generation lifestyle
Rachel Sennott joins the video call and immediately starts an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, appearing truly apologetic. Despite being only a bit late, she feels compelled to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is exactly what one hopes to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty expected. Viewers familiar with her unapologetically openly gay and outspoken project Bottoms—which Sennott penned with her creative partner and starred in alongside her friend the talented actress—can be aware that Sennott has plenty to discuss, ranging from about identity, sex, or the merits of forming a teen brawl society. Furthermore, by the end her recent eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has additional thoughts about the challenges of Gen Z life (At 30, she serves as a bridge of the gang, straddling eras with a knack for straddling both generations).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being a fan, referencing it together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for the project, which tracks the journey of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also new representative portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the most significant presence on creative vision went to the HBO series, that HBO sitcom about a rising celebrity succeeding in a corrupt Hollywood (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and decided to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The idea for I Love LA emerged—in part—from firsthand, at first rocky, relocation to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed phenomenon for followers. It was a phase that involved her understand major life lessons, professionally and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott began writing and performing humor while studying theatre 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. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She decided to act independently, appearing at live shows with Edebiri and sharing hysterical (and very) unconventional comedy videos digitally. One, Baby Cult, centered on several females obsessively fixated on having babies; a different one portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as like being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and ultimately featuring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a Jewish wake with hints of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her journey, she explains, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she repeats, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who had doubts about Sennott earlier will certainly be regretting it today. In what she describes as a “astonishingly complete” story, she appears to manifested an ideal role. Previously she uploaded a clip called on LA life online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers managing the perks of online celebrity (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a risky pariah). Some could tempting to produce a show about online fame that was horribly idealized—or, worse, one that belittled at those depicted. This show does neither, creating a depiction of advantaged millennial living that’s honest about the chaos and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“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
