Rachel Sennott on her uproarious series about that grotty allure of today's youth lifestyle
The star enters the digital interview and immediately begins an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, appearing genuinely remorseful. She is only a bit behind, she feels compelled to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s just what is ideal to encounter. Moreover, it’s quite expected. Viewers who have seen the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—which she collaborated on with her creative partner and appeared in alongside collaborator The Bear’s standout—will understand that she possesses much to say, whether about identity, sex, or the merits of starting a high-school combat group. Furthermore, after watching her new multi-episode HBO series titled I Love LA, it is clear that she has additional thoughts about the struggles of modern youth (As a millennial, she is a relatable figure for this generation, straddling eras skilled for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott readily acknowledges enthusiastic, naming it in addition to Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the struggles of online personality Tallulah and her friend and aspiring talent manager Sennott’s character. However, the biggest spot on concept was reserved for Entourage, the program focusing on an emerging A-list actor succeeding in a corrupt LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it amid the pandemic, became “captivated”, and chose to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The inspiration for I Love LA originated—in part—from firsthand, originally fractious, move to LA and from the astrological phase, a popular event for followers. That period marked a time that saw her grasp major insights, work-wise and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Growing up in Connecticut, the star started creating and acting stand-up while pursuing performance at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott seized control, appearing at live shows with her friend and sharing hilarious (and very) weird skits online. One, titled Baby Cult, followed characters obsessively fixated on pregnancy; a different one portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being stuck in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a religious event with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her journey, she notes, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, rather than the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who were skeptical regarding Sennott previously will surely be regretting it currently. In what she calls a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she seems to have created the perfect project. A few years back she uploaded a video called “it’s LA” online, in which she mocked film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about LA residents balancing advantages of digital stardom (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being labeled as being a drug-addled criminal, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). One might simple to create a show about internet celebrity that was overly idealized—or, more problematic, one that punched down at its subjects. The series avoids both, making for a depiction of affluent twentysomething life that’s honest about the mess and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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