Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and at once launches into an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, appearing really regretful. Despite being only slightly behind, she feels compelled to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is precisely what you want to experience. Additionally, it’s pretty predictable. Those who have seen the boldly queer and outspoken film Bottoms—which she penned with the director and starred in together with collaborator The Bear’s standout—will be aware that she holds a lot to discuss, be it on identity, relationships, or the appeal of forming a youth fight club. Furthermore, after watching the recent eight-part show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has further insights about the challenges of modern youth (As a millennial, she is a relatable figure for this generation, a tale-end millennial adept for straddling different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott readily acknowledges an admirer, citing it alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which tracks the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and ally and aspiring agent portrayed by Sennott. However, the most significant influence on concept went to the HBO series, the HBO sitcom about an emerging Hollywood star navigating in a corrupt entertainment industry (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it during lockdown, became “obsessed”, and decided to create a new version 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 explains. The idea for the series came—in part—from personal, at first fractious, move to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed event for astrology heads. That period marked an era that included her understand major life lessons, in her career and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “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…”
Humble Origins
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott commenced creating and acting stand-up while studying theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” 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. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with Ayo and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) weird online content digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed characters obsessively fixated on motherhood; another imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as like being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a religious event with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her journey, she notes, has been peers offering opportunities, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, adding humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who had doubts regarding her previously will surely be feeling foolish now. As part of she calls a “incredibly circular” development, she appears to created an ideal role. Previously she posted content named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (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 suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). Some could simple to make a program about internet celebrity that was overly idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, making for a portrait of advantaged millennial life that’s frank about the grot and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
