Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and at once starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, seeming truly remorseful. She is only a couple of minutes delayed, she wants to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s just what one hopes to encounter. Additionally, it’s quite unsurprising. Viewers who know the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and brash movie Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and featured in alongside close companion The Bear’s standout—would understand that she has plenty to share, ranging from about gender, sex, or the pros of starting a youth combat group. And, once you finish the latest multi-episode program titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has even more thoughts on the darker side of modern youth (At 30, Sennott represents an honorary member to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial skilled for straddling both generations).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, referencing it in addition to the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as inspirations for her series, which tracks the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and aspiring representative Maia. Perhaps, the biggest influence on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, that HBO sitcom depicting an up-and-coming celebrity making his way in a gritty Hollywood (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it amid COVID-19, became “captivated”, and decided to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The concept for I Love LA originated—in part—from her own, at first difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a much-talked-about phenomenon for astrology heads. That period marked a time that included her understand major life lessons, in her career and in private life. “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 was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Raised in New England, the star commenced developing and showcasing humor while enrolled in performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “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. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and uploading uproarious (and very) unconventional comedy videos online. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted several females intensely obsessed with motherhood; a different one envisioned being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being caught in a thriller. Interestingly, she met Emma through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a religious event with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her journey, she notes, has been peers giving her a shot, instead of the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, continuing humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who had doubts regarding Sennott then will surely be feeling foolish now. Through she describes as a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she seems to have created the perfect project. Previously she uploaded content titled “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a series about city dwellers managing benefits of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). One might simple to create a series about online fame that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at those depicted. I Love LA steers clear of each, creating a representation of privileged millennial living that’s frank about the grot and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
