Rachel Sennott enters the video call and immediately starts an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, sounding genuinely regretful. Although she's only a bit late, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, in this context, this is precisely what one hopes to experience. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone who know her boldly openly gay and outspoken film Bottoms—which Sennott penned with her creative partner and featured in alongside her friend The Bear’s standout—will understand that she has a lot to discuss, whether about gender, relationships, or the merits of creating a teen fight club. And, after watching the new multi-episode program titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she has further perspectives regarding the challenges of young adulthood (At 30, she represents a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp skilled for straddling different age groups).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges enthusiastic, citing the show alongside Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as guides for her series, which tracks the struggles of online personality Tallulah and close companion who is also aspiring representative Maia. Notably, the biggest presence on the moodboard was reserved for Entourage, that HBO sitcom depicting a rising Hollywood star navigating in an often-seedy entertainment industry (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it during lockdown, became “obsessed”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The concept for the series came—in part—from personal, at first fractious, relocation to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about event for astrology heads. This represented a time that involved her grasp significant truths, professionally and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Raised in the East Coast, the star commenced writing and performing comedy while studying theatre 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. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She took matters into her own hands, appearing at amateur nights with Edebiri and posting uproarious (and very) bizarre comedy videos digitally. One, Baby Cult, centered on characters intensely obsessed with having babies; a different one portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a horror film. By chance, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a religious event with echoes of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her path, she says, has been people her own age supporting her, as opposed to traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, stating with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Individuals who questioned regarding her then will surely be kicking themselves now. As part of she labels a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded a video called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about Angelenos managing benefits of internet fame (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being labeled as being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). One might tempting to create a program about online fame that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that mocked at those depicted. The series does neither, making for a portrait of affluent young adult existence that’s candid about the mess and the shine.
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 says. “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
