Rachel Sennott appears on the online meeting and at once launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, appearing genuinely apologetic. Although she's only slightly delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is just what you want to hear. Additionally, it’s fairly predictable. Those familiar with her boldly LGBTQ+ and outspoken movie Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside collaborator The Bear’s standout—would already know that she holds plenty to share, whether on identity, sex, or the pros of creating a youth fight club. Furthermore, by the end the new eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has even more insights on the challenges of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she is a relatable figure of the gang, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting both generations).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress readily acknowledges enthusiastic, citing it in addition to the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for her series, which tracks the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also aspiring agent portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the largest spot on the moodboard belonged to Entourage, that show about an emerging A-list actor making his way in a corrupt LA scene (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She began viewing it during the pandemic, became “hooked”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The concept for the series came—to some extent—from her own, at first fractious, move to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a popular occurrence for astrology heads. It was a phase that involved her understand significant life lessons, work-wise and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott commenced creating and acting humor while studying acting at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott seized control, performing at live shows with Ayo and uploading hysterical (and decidedly) bizarre comedy videos digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; another portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a religious event with hints of the intense thriller. The central motif of her journey, she explains, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, stating humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who questioned regarding Sennott previously will likely be kicking themselves now. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she appears to manifested the perfect project. A few years back she uploaded content titled on LA life on social media, in which she parodied movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a show about Angelenos managing advantages of internet fame (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being labeled as being a intoxicated thief, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). One might easy to make a series about online fame that was overly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a representation of advantaged young adult existence that’s candid about the grot and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
