Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and immediately launches into an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, sounding genuinely regretful. Despite being only a couple of minutes 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!” Luckily, during an interview, this is just what you want to hear. Additionally, it’s fairly expected. Those who know her boldly queer and brash film titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with the director and starred in with close companion The Bear’s standout—can understand that she possesses a lot to share, ranging from on gender, sex, or the appeal of forming a high-school brawl society. Furthermore, after watching her latest seasonal show titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star carries even more insights regarding the challenges of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott serves as a bridge of the gang, straddling eras skilled for straddling both generations).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, naming it in addition to the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as inspirations for her series, which follows the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and new talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the biggest influence on the moodboard went to the HBO series, the show depicting a rising A-list actor navigating in an often-seedy LA scene (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott started watching it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The inspiration for the series originated—to some extent—from firsthand, initially difficult, relocation to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for followers. This represented a time that involved her learn major insights, professionally and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Growing up in New England, Sennott began writing and performing comedy 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. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at live shows with Ayo and uploading hilarious (and very) weird skits on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed several females fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; a different one portrayed working at the brand Hollister as similar to being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a religious event with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her career, she explains, has been contemporaries supporting her, rather than traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who questioned regarding her earlier will certainly be regretting it now. In what she labels a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she has created her dream vehicle. A few years back she shared content titled “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a show about city dwellers balancing advantages of internet fame (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). Some could easy to create a program about digital influence that was horribly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at the characters. I Love LA does neither, creating a portrait of privileged young adult existence that’s candid about the grot and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
