Rachel Sennott enters the video call and at once begins an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, sounding really remorseful. Although she's only slightly delayed, 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!” Thankfully, during an interview, that’s exactly what one hopes to experience. Moreover, it’s quite expected. Viewers familiar with her boldly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—that she collaborated on with her creative partner and starred in alongside close companion the talented actress—will be aware that Sennott holds plenty to say, ranging from about roles, relationships, or the pros of starting a high-school fight club. Plus, after watching the recent seasonal program titled I Love LA, it is clear that she holds even more thoughts about the darker side of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott serves as an honorary member to younger audiences, straddling eras skilled for connecting both generations).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress admits to being an admirer, naming it in addition to the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as influences for her series, which follows the travails of online personality Tallulah and close companion who is also aspiring agent Maia. However, the largest influence on creative vision was reserved for Entourage, the show depicting an up-and-coming celebrity succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it amid COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The idea for the series emerged—partly—from her own, originally difficult, transition to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a popular event for enthusiasts. It was a time that involved her grasp some big life lessons, work-wise and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “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
Growing up in the East Coast, the star began developing and showcasing comedy while enrolled in theatre 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. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. 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, taking the stage at open mics with Ayo and uploading uproarious (and very) unconventional skits on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted characters fetishistically fixated on motherhood; a different one portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as like being caught in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her career, she explains, has been contemporaries supporting her, as opposed to the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, continuing with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Anyone who were skeptical regarding her then will likely be feeling foolish today. As part of she describes as a “wild, full-circle” story, she has achieved the perfect project. In 2019 she posted a video titled “it’s LA” online, in which she mocked movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a series about city dwellers juggling benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated thief, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). Some could easy to make a show about online fame that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that punched down at those depicted. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a depiction of advantaged young adult existence that’s honest about the chaos and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“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
