Rachel Sennott appears on the online meeting and right away launches into an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, seeming really apologetic. She is only slightly delayed, she needs to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s exactly what is ideal to experience. Additionally, it’s pretty predictable. Those who have seen the fearlessly openly gay and outspoken project Bottoms—which Sennott penned with the director and featured in alongside her friend the talented actress—can understand that Sennott holds plenty to discuss, whether on roles, relationships, or the merits of creating a teen combat group. Furthermore, by the end the new seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries additional insights about the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott serves as an honorary member for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for connecting both generations).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott readily acknowledges an admirer, referencing it alongside Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as inspirations for her series, which details the struggles of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and fledgling representative Sennott’s character. Notably, the biggest influence on concept went to Entourage, that show focusing on an up-and-coming A-list actor navigating in an often-seedy LA scene (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She began viewing it during the pandemic, became “hooked”, and decided to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The concept for the series came—to some extent—from her own, at first difficult, transition to LA and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. That period marked a phase that included her learn major insights, professionally and personally. “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.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Growing up in the East Coast, the star commenced creating and acting comedy while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at open mics with Edebiri and sharing hilarious (and decidedly) weird skits online. One, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women obsessively drawn to pregnancy; a different one portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as like being stuck in a horror film. By chance, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her career, she explains, has been contemporaries supporting her, rather than established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, continuing with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Those who questioned about Sennott then will likely be regretting it today. In what she describes as a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have manifested an ideal role. Previously she shared a video named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about LA residents juggling the perks of internet fame (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). Some could easy to make a program about internet celebrity that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, making for a depiction of affluent millennial life that’s frank about the chaos and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
