Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and right away begins an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, sounding genuinely remorseful. Despite being only a bit behind, she feels compelled to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, during an interview, this is precisely what is ideal to experience. Moreover, it’s pretty predictable. Anyone familiar with her unapologetically openly gay and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with the director and starred in together with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that she has plenty to discuss, ranging from on identity, relationships, or the appeal of starting a teen combat group. And, by the end the new seasonal HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star carries additional insights regarding the challenges of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott serves as a bridge for this generation, straddling eras skilled for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, referencing the show together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for the project, which tracks the journey of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also fledgling talent manager Maia. Notably, the most significant influence on concept belonged to Entourage, the program about an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it during lockdown, became “hooked”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The concept for I Love LA came—to some extent—from firsthand, initially fractious, transition to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. It was a time that saw her learn significant insights, in her career and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “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 creating and acting comedy while studying acting 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. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She took matters into her own hands, appearing at amateur nights with her friend and uploading hysterical (and very) weird comedy videos online. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed characters fetishistically obsessed with motherhood; a different one portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being trapped in a scary movie. By chance, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a religious event with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her career, she explains, has been peers supporting her, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, adding with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who had doubts about Sennott previously will certainly be regretting it currently. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” development, she has achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she posted content named “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a comedy about city dwellers managing benefits of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your client being labeled as being a substance-abusing thief, and possibly becoming a risky outcast). It would be tempting to make a show about internet celebrity that was extremely idealized—or, worse, one that belittled at those depicted. This show does neither, making for a portrait of advantaged twentysomething existence that’s honest about the mess and the shine.
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 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
