Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and right away begins an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely apologetic. Despite being only a bit delayed, she wants to explain. “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!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s precisely what you want to encounter. Additionally, it’s quite predictable. Those who have seen the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside close companion the talented actress—can already know that she holds a lot to say, be it on identity, intimacy, or the pros of forming a youth brawl society. And, by the end her latest eight-part program titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star has further perspectives on the struggles of modern youth (At 30, she serves as a relatable figure to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting different age groups).
Influences and Creative Vision
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, naming the show together with the classic series, Insecure and the innovative program as guides for the project, which follows the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also fledgling talent manager Sennott’s character. Notably, the most significant influence on concept was reserved for the HBO series, that program about a rising Hollywood star navigating in a gritty LA scene (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott started watching it amid COVID-19, became “hooked”, and chose to create a new version 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 inspiration for I Love LA originated—partly—from personal, originally fractious, transition to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about event for followers. This represented an era that saw her understand significant life lessons, work-wise and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in Connecticut, the star started developing and showcasing comedy while enrolled in performance at NYU’s Tisch. “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. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She seized control, performing at amateur nights with Ayo and sharing hilarious (and very) unconventional skits digitally. One, Baby Cult, centered on a group of women fetishistically fixated on pregnancy; a different one imagined working at the brand Hollister as like being trapped in a thriller. By chance, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a religious event with echoes of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her journey, she says, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, rather than the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who were skeptical about her then will surely be regretting it today. As part of she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she has manifested an ideal role. Previously she shared a video called on LA life online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a series about LA residents balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and potentially becoming a unreliable outcast). One might tempting to make a show about digital influence that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at its subjects. This show does neither, making for a depiction of privileged twentysomething existence that’s candid 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
