Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and at once starts an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, seeming really regretful. Although she's only a bit late, she feels compelled to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, in this context, this is just what is ideal to encounter. Moreover, it’s quite unsurprising. Anyone who know the fearlessly openly gay and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—that she collaborated on with her creative partner and starred in together with close companion The Bear’s standout—will understand that Sennott possesses a lot to discuss, whether about identity, relationships, or the pros of forming a youth combat group. Furthermore, once you finish her new multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has even more perspectives on the struggles of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a relatable figure of the gang, on the cusp with a knack for bridging different age groups).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress is enthusiastic, citing it alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which tracks the journey of an influencer Tallulah and her friend who is also fledgling agent Sennott’s character. However, the biggest spot on concept belonged to Entourage, that show focusing on a rising A-list actor succeeding in an often-seedy entertainment industry (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She started watching it during lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The inspiration for the series originated—to some extent—from her own, at first difficult, move to LA and from her astrological phase, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. It was an era that saw her understand significant insights, in her career and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” 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 the East Coast, the star began creating and acting humor while studying performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. 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.”
She seized control, taking the stage at open mics with her friend and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) bizarre comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters fetishistically drawn to motherhood; another envisioned working at the brand Hollister as akin to being stuck in a horror film. Interestingly, she met Seligman through campus film circles and eventually featuring in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a religious event with shades of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her journey, she notes, has been peers supporting her, instead of established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, stating amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who questioned regarding Sennott then will certainly be kicking themselves currently. As part of she describes as a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she has created the perfect project. In 2019 she uploaded a clip named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about city dwellers balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your friend being labeled as being a drug-addled criminal, and perhaps becoming a risky outcast). It would be easy to produce a series about internet celebrity that was extremely idealized—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA does neither, making for a portrait of advantaged twentysomething existence that’s candid about the grot and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“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
