The actress and writer exploring her uproarious comedy about the chaotic allure of Gen Z existence
Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and immediately begins an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, appearing really apologetic. Although she's only a couple of minutes late, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, during an interview, that’s exactly what you want to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty unsurprising. Anyone familiar with the boldly openly gay and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in alongside her friend The Bear’s standout—will understand that she holds plenty to discuss, be it on roles, intimacy, or the merits of starting a high-school brawl society. And, after watching the latest eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that she carries additional thoughts about the struggles of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott is a bridge of the gang, straddling eras adept for straddling both generations).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, referencing the show together with Sex and the City, Insecure and the innovative program as influences for her series, which tracks the travails of a social media star Tallulah and ally who is also aspiring agent Maia. However, the largest presence on creative vision belonged to the HBO series, the show focusing on an up-and-coming celebrity navigating in a corrupt LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it throughout lockdown, became “hooked”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The concept for this project came—to some extent—from personal, initially fractious, relocation to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about phenomenon for enthusiasts. This represented a time that involved her learn major life lessons, work-wise and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Raised in New England, the star commenced developing and showcasing stand-up while pursuing performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “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, performing at open mics with Edebiri and uploading hilarious (and decidedly) bizarre online content online. One, Baby Cult, depicted several females intensely drawn to having babies; a different one envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as like being trapped in a thriller. By chance, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually featuring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her path, she explains, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who questioned about Sennott previously will likely be regretting it currently. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she appears to manifested her dream vehicle. Previously she uploaded content named on LA life online, in which she parodied film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers juggling benefits of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being accused of being a intoxicated stealer, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). Some could simple to produce a program about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA steers clear of each, creating a portrait of privileged millennial existence that’s honest about the mess and the appeal.
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 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