Rachel Sennott appears on the online meeting and right away begins an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, appearing really remorseful. She is only a bit late, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is exactly what is ideal to experience. Besides, it’s pretty unsurprising. Viewers familiar with the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with the director and featured in together with her friend the talented actress—would be aware that Sennott possesses much to discuss, ranging from on identity, sex, or the merits of forming a high-school combat group. And, once you finish her new multi-episode program I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she has further perspectives about the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents a bridge for this generation, straddling eras adept for connecting different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress is a fan, referencing it together with the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as guides for her series, which details the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and her friend who is also new agent Sennott’s character. However, the most significant presence on creative vision was reserved for the HBO series, that program focusing on an emerging A-list actor making his way in an often-seedy LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it during the pandemic, became “captivated”, and chose to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The idea for I Love LA emerged—to some extent—from personal, at first fractious, move to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a popular phenomenon for enthusiasts. It was an era that saw her grasp significant insights, work-wise and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Raised in Connecticut, the star started developing and showcasing comedy while enrolled in performance at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She seized control, appearing at amateur nights with Ayo and sharing uproarious (and very) unconventional comedy videos digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically obsessed with motherhood; a different one portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually featuring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her path, she says, has been contemporaries supporting her, rather than established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, adding with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Individuals who were skeptical about Sennott then will likely be kicking themselves today. In what she labels a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. Previously she uploaded a clip titled “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a show about LA residents balancing benefits of internet fame (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being accused of being a substance-abusing thief, and perhaps becoming a risky persona non grata). One might easy to create a show about digital influence that was overly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at the characters. This show steers clear of each, making for a representation of privileged twentysomething life that’s candid about the grot and the appeal.
Empathetic Approach
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
