Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and immediately launches into an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, seeming truly remorseful. She is only a bit behind, 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, that’s exactly what you want to hear. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Those who have seen the unapologetically queer and outspoken project Bottoms—which she penned with Emma Seligman and featured in together with collaborator The Bear’s standout—can already know that Sennott holds plenty to discuss, be it on identity, relationships, or the pros of starting a youth brawl society. Plus, once you finish her latest multi-episode program titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star carries even more thoughts on the challenges of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott represents an honorary member for this generation, a tale-end millennial adept for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being a fan, referencing the show together with the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which tracks the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also new agent portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the biggest influence on the moodboard belonged to Entourage, that show depicting a rising A-list actor navigating in a gritty entertainment industry (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott began viewing it amid the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and resolved to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The idea for this project emerged—partly—from firsthand, at first rocky, relocation to LA and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about event for followers. It was a time that involved her understand major truths, professionally and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “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
Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott started creating and acting humor while studying performance 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. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott seized control, taking the stage at open mics with Edebiri and posting hysterical (and very) weird comedy videos online. One, Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively drawn to pregnancy; another envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a thriller. By chance, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and ultimately starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a religious event with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her path, she explains, has been people her own age offering opportunities, instead of traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, adding humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who questioned regarding Sennott previously will likely be kicking themselves currently. Through she calls a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she has manifested her dream vehicle. Previously she posted a video named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a series about Angelenos balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be simple to produce a program about online fame that was horribly idealized—or, more problematic, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a representation of advantaged millennial existence that’s honest about the chaos and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
