Rachel Sennott joins the video call and at once begins an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming truly regretful. Although she's only slightly behind, she needs 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 exactly what one hopes to experience. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Viewers who know the unapologetically queer and outspoken project titled Bottoms—that she penned with the director and featured in alongside close companion the talented actress—would be aware that she possesses plenty to discuss, be it about roles, sex, or the appeal of starting a youth combat group. Furthermore, by the end her new eight-part program I Love LA, it is clear that the star carries even more perspectives regarding the challenges of modern youth (At 30, she is a relatable figure to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial skilled for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, referencing the show in addition to the classic series, Insecure and the innovative program as influences for her series, which follows the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and fledgling agent portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the largest presence on concept was reserved for the HBO series, that show focusing on an emerging Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it amid COVID-19, became “captivated”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The concept for I Love LA emerged—in part—from personal, initially fractious, move to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a popular event for followers. This represented a phase that involved her learn major life lessons, in her career and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in New England, Sennott commenced writing and performing comedy while pursuing acting at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “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?”
Sennott decided to act independently, performing at open mics with Ayo and uploading hysterical (and decidedly) weird skits digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women obsessively drawn to motherhood; a different one portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as like being caught in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a funeral gathering with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her path, she says, has been peers supporting her, instead of established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, continuing humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who were skeptical about her previously will certainly be kicking themselves today. As part of she describes as a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. A few years back she uploaded content named about Los Angeles online, in which she mocked movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about LA residents juggling benefits of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). Some could easy to produce a series about internet celebrity that was extremely glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA avoids both, making for a portrait of affluent twentysomething existence that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” she comments. “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
