Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and immediately begins an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming really regretful. She is only slightly delayed, she feels compelled to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, for a writer, this is precisely what one hopes to experience. Additionally, it’s fairly predictable. Anyone who know the boldly queer and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with the director and starred in with close companion The Bear’s standout—will be aware that she has a lot to discuss, whether on identity, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a high-school brawl society. And, once you finish the latest eight-part program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds further thoughts about the struggles of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents an honorary member for this generation, on the cusp adept for bridging both generations).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being an admirer, naming it alongside the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the struggles of online personality Tallulah and ally and new agent portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the most significant influence on concept went to the HBO series, that show focusing on an emerging Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She started watching it throughout the pandemic, became “hooked”, and decided to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The idea for this project originated—in part—from firsthand, initially fractious, transition to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about phenomenon for astrology heads. That period marked a phase that involved her grasp some big truths, professionally and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Raised in New England, Sennott commenced writing and performing comedy while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” 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, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and sharing uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre online content on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed characters intensely drawn to motherhood; a different one portrayed working at the brand Hollister as like being stuck in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her path, she explains, has been people her own age giving her a shot, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Anyone who had doubts regarding Sennott then will likely be regretting it now. As part of she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she seems to have manifested an ideal role. Previously she posted content called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she lampooned movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about Angelenos juggling benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your client being labeled as being a substance-abusing criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). It would be easy to produce a series about online fame that was horribly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that mocked at those depicted. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a depiction of affluent millennial living that’s honest about the mess and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
