Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and immediately launches into an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, sounding truly regretful. She is only slightly delayed, she needs to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, in this context, this is precisely what is ideal to experience. Additionally, it’s quite expected. Viewers who know her fearlessly openly gay and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—that Sennott penned with her creative partner and appeared in with her friend the talented actress—would already know that Sennott possesses much to discuss, whether about gender, sex, or the appeal of starting a youth fight club. And, by the end her recent eight-part program titled I Love LA, it is clear that she has additional thoughts on the darker side of modern youth (At 30, she is an honorary member for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting different age groups).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being an admirer, citing the show in addition to the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as inspirations for the project, which tracks the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and fledgling talent manager Maia. Perhaps, the largest spot on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, the show depicting an emerging celebrity making his way in a corrupt Hollywood (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it during COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective 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 notes. The inspiration for this project originated—to some extent—from personal, at first difficult, move to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a frequently discussed event for astrology heads. It was a time that involved her grasp some big truths, work-wise and personally. “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 resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Brought up in New England, the star started developing and showcasing stand-up while pursuing performance at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She decided to act independently, appearing at open mics with Ayo and posting uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre skits on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on several females obsessively obsessed with pregnancy; a different one portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as like being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through campus film circles and ultimately starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a Jewish wake with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been peers offering opportunities, instead of the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, stating amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Those who questioned regarding Sennott then will surely be regretting it currently. Through she labels a “incredibly circular” story, she has created her dream vehicle. A few years back she shared a video named “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a series about LA residents managing benefits of internet fame (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled thief, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). It would be tempting to make a program about internet celebrity that was overly idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at the characters. I Love LA avoids both, making for a portrait of affluent young adult existence that’s candid about the chaos 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
