Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and at once launches into an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, appearing really regretful. She is only a couple of minutes late, she feels compelled to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is just what you want to hear. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Viewers familiar with the unapologetically queer and outspoken project Bottoms—which Sennott penned with her creative partner and appeared in together with her friend Ayo Edebiri—can already know that she holds plenty to share, whether about identity, relationships, or the merits of starting a high-school fight club. Furthermore, once you finish her latest multi-episode show titled I Love LA, it is clear that she holds additional thoughts on the challenges of modern youth (Now in her thirties, she represents a relatable figure for this generation, a tale-end millennial adept for connecting both generations).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being an admirer, referencing the show together with the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as influences for I Love LA, which details the journey of an influencer Tallulah and her friend who is also new agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the biggest presence on concept went to the HBO series, that HBO sitcom about an up-and-coming A-list actor making his way in an often-seedy LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott started watching it during lockdown, became “captivated”, and decided 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 notes. The idea for this project came—in part—from her own, initially rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from the saturn return, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that saw her understand some big truths, in her career and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott commenced creating and acting stand-up while studying performance at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She took matters into her own hands, appearing at amateur nights with Edebiri and posting hilarious (and very) unconventional online content on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women obsessively drawn to pregnancy; another portrayed working at the brand Hollister as similar to being caught in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately appearing in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a religious event with shades of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her career, she explains, has been peers supporting her, as opposed to established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, continuing humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who had doubts regarding her previously will surely be feeling foolish today. As part of she describes as a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she has achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she posted a clip titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a series about LA residents managing advantages of digital stardom (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a intoxicated stealer, and potentially becoming a risky pariah). It would be tempting to produce a show about internet celebrity that was extremely aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at the characters. I Love LA does neither, creating a representation of affluent twentysomething life that’s candid about the chaos and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” she comments. “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
