Rachel Sennott joins the online meeting and right away launches into an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, sounding really remorseful. She is only a couple of minutes delayed, she feels compelled to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s exactly what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s quite expected. Those who know her unapologetically openly gay and outspoken film titled Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with the director and featured in with her friend the talented actress—would be aware that she has a lot to say, whether about identity, intimacy, or the appeal of starting a youth brawl society. And, after watching the latest seasonal show I Love LA, it is clear that she holds further perspectives regarding the darker side of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a relatable figure for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for straddling different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress admits to being an admirer, referencing the show together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for the project, which tracks the journey of online personality Tallulah and her friend who is also fledgling representative Sennott’s character. Notably, the biggest presence on the moodboard went to the HBO series, that HBO sitcom focusing on an up-and-coming celebrity making his way in a gritty entertainment industry (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it amid the pandemic, became “hooked”, and chose to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The concept for this project came—in part—from firsthand, originally difficult, relocation to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a popular phenomenon for followers. This represented a time that involved her grasp some big truths, in her career and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott commenced creating and acting humor while enrolled in performance at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at amateur nights with her friend and uploading hysterical (and decidedly) bizarre skits online. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed several females intensely fixated on motherhood; a different one imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being caught in a scary movie. By chance, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and ended up appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she says, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, instead of established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, stating amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who had doubts regarding Sennott earlier will likely be kicking themselves today. As part of she describes as a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she appears to manifested an ideal role. Previously she uploaded a clip called on LA life online, in which she lampooned film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a series about Angelenos balancing benefits of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being accused of being a drug-addled thief, and perhaps becoming a risky pariah). Some could simple to make a show about internet celebrity that was horribly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA steers clear of each, creating a portrait of privileged millennial living 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
