Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and right away starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, seeming really apologetic. Despite being only a bit late, she wants to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, in this context, this is exactly what one hopes to encounter. Moreover, it’s quite expected. Anyone who know her boldly queer and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—which Sennott penned with the director and starred in with close companion the talented actress—would already know that Sennott holds a lot to discuss, whether about gender, intimacy, or the merits of creating a youth combat group. And, by the end her latest eight-part show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has further perspectives regarding the challenges of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a bridge of the gang, straddling eras skilled for connecting both generations).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being an admirer, referencing it in addition to the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the journey of online personality Tallulah and her friend and aspiring representative Maia. Perhaps, the largest spot on creative vision went to the popular sitcom, that program focusing on an up-and-coming A-list actor making his way in a corrupt LA scene (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it during COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and resolved 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 inspiration for the series originated—in part—from her own, at first difficult, move to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed phenomenon for enthusiasts. That period marked a phase that involved her learn significant truths, work-wise and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Growing up in the East Coast, the star commenced writing and performing humor while studying performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” 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 decided to act independently, appearing at amateur nights with Edebiri and uploading hilarious (and decidedly) unconventional skits on the internet. One, Baby Cult, followed several females obsessively obsessed with pregnancy; another envisioned being employed at the brand Hollister as like being caught in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a religious event with shades of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her path, she notes, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, adding humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who questioned regarding her then will likely be feeling foolish today. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she appears to achieved her dream vehicle. Previously she uploaded a video titled “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a show about Angelenos managing the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated thief, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be tempting to make a program about digital influence that was horribly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that punched down at the characters. I Love LA steers clear of each, creating a representation of advantaged millennial life that’s candid about the mess and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
