Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and immediately begins an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming genuinely remorseful. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is precisely what is ideal to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty expected. Viewers familiar with her fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—that she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in alongside close companion The Bear’s standout—would understand that she holds a lot to say, be it about gender, relationships, or the appeal of starting a high-school fight club. Furthermore, by the end the new multi-episode HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star carries even more perspectives regarding the struggles of modern youth (As a millennial, Sennott represents a relatable figure of the gang, a tale-end millennial adept for bridging both generations).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress is enthusiastic, citing it in addition to the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as guides for I Love LA, which details the journey of online personality Tallulah and her friend who is also fledgling agent Sennott’s character. However, the biggest influence on the moodboard belonged to Entourage, the show focusing on a rising A-list actor succeeding in a corrupt Hollywood (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She began viewing it amid the pandemic, became “hooked”, and resolved to create a new version 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 inspiration for I Love LA originated—to some extent—from her own, initially rocky, move to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed event for followers. This represented a time that saw her understand significant truths, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott commenced writing and performing humor while studying performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She decided to act independently, performing at live shows with her friend and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) bizarre skits digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on several females fetishistically fixated on pregnancy; a different one envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being stuck in a thriller. By chance, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and ultimately starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a religious event with shades of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her career, she notes, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, as opposed to established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who questioned regarding her previously will surely be feeling foolish currently. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she has created an ideal role. Previously she shared content named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she mocked movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a comedy about city dwellers managing the perks of internet fame (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a substance-abusing stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be easy to produce a show about digital influence that was overly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that punched down at those depicted. This show does neither, creating a depiction of affluent young adult existence that’s frank about the grot and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she says. “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
