Rachel Sennott exploring her uproarious comedy depicting that grotty glamour of today's youth life
The performer appears on the digital interview and right away launches into an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, sounding really remorseful. She is only a couple of minutes behind, she needs to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, in this context, that’s exactly what one hopes to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Those familiar with the boldly queer and brash movie Bottoms—which she co-wrote with her creative partner and featured in alongside collaborator The Bear’s standout—can already know that she has plenty to share, whether about gender, intimacy, or the merits of starting a high-school combat group. Plus, after watching the new multi-episode program titled I Love LA, it is clear that she carries even more thoughts regarding the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, she is an honorary member to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial adept for bridging different age groups).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Parallels to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress is enthusiastic, naming it together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and fledgling representative Sennott’s character. However, the most significant influence on the moodboard was reserved for the HBO series, that program focusing on an emerging A-list actor navigating in a corrupt LA scene (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott started watching it during COVID-19, became “captivated”, and resolved to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The concept for I Love LA emerged—to some extent—from her own, initially rocky, relocation to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about occurrence for followers. That period marked a phase that saw her learn significant life lessons, professionally and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Raised in New England, Sennott began developing and showcasing stand-up while enrolled in theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “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 decided to act independently, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and uploading hilarious (and decidedly) bizarre online content digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively obsessed with motherhood; a different one envisioned working at the brand Hollister as like being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a Jewish wake with shades of the intense thriller. The central motif of her career, she says, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, continuing amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who had doubts about Sennott earlier will likely be feeling foolish today. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she has achieved an ideal role. Previously she posted content titled “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a show about city dwellers juggling advantages of internet fame (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). It would be tempting to make a series about internet celebrity that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at the characters. The series steers clear of each, making for a depiction of privileged millennial living that’s candid about the mess and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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