Rachel Sennott discussing her uproarious series depicting the messy glamour of today's youth existence
The star appears on the video call and immediately begins an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, seeming genuinely remorseful. She is only a bit behind, she wants to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. 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. Additionally, it’s fairly predictable. Those familiar with the boldly openly gay and outspoken project Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in together with her friend the talented actress—will understand that she holds much to discuss, ranging from on identity, sex, or the pros of creating a high-school fight club. And, once you finish the recent eight-part program titled I Love LA, it is clear that she holds additional thoughts regarding the challenges of modern youth (As a millennial, Sennott represents a bridge for this generation, on the cusp adept for straddling both generations).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, referencing it in addition to the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and ally who is also new representative Sennott’s character. Notably, the biggest presence on concept was reserved for the popular sitcom, the show depicting an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it throughout COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and decided to add a fresh perspective 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 idea for the series originated—in part—from firsthand, originally difficult, transition to LA and from the cosmic event, a popular occurrence for astrology heads. This represented a phase that saw her understand major life lessons, work-wise and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in New England, Sennott started writing and performing humor while pursuing performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “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, appearing at live shows with Ayo and uploading hilarious (and very) weird skits digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women intensely obsessed with having babies; another imagined working at the brand Hollister as like being trapped in a horror film. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through campus film circles and eventually appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a religious event with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age giving her a shot, rather than traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, continuing amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who had doubts about Sennott then will certainly be kicking themselves today. Through she labels a “astonishingly complete” story, she has manifested an ideal role. In 2019 she shared content named about Los Angeles online, in which she parodied movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about city dwellers juggling benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing criminal, and possibly becoming a unreliable persona non grata). It would be tempting to create a show about digital influence that was horribly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that punched down at its subjects. The series does neither, resulting in a portrait of affluent millennial existence that’s candid about the mess and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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