Rachel Sennott enters the video call and immediately launches into an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, seeming genuinely remorseful. Despite being only a bit delayed, she needs to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s just what one hopes to experience. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Viewers who know her fearlessly openly gay and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—that she collaborated on with her creative partner and appeared in with close companion the talented actress—will be aware that she possesses plenty to say, whether on gender, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a teen combat group. Furthermore, after watching the latest multi-episode program I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has further thoughts on the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents a bridge to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial adept for connecting different age groups).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress admits to being a fan, naming it alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for her series, which tracks the journey of online personality Tallulah and ally and aspiring agent Maia. Perhaps, the most significant spot on creative vision went to Entourage, the program about an up-and-coming A-list actor making his way in a gritty LA scene (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it throughout lockdown, became “captivated”, and resolved to put her own twist 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 inspiration for the series originated—to some extent—from her own, at first rocky, transition to LA and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about phenomenon for followers. It was a time that saw her learn significant insights, work-wise and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in New England, Sennott began writing and performing humor while enrolled in theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott seized control, taking the stage at open mics with Edebiri and sharing hilarious (and distinctly) bizarre comedy videos on the internet. One, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically obsessed with having babies; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being trapped in a horror film. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through campus film circles and ultimately starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her journey, she explains, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, stating amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who were skeptical about her previously will likely be kicking themselves now. As part of she labels a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she seems to have created her dream vehicle. In 2019 she posted a clip named about Los Angeles online, in which she mocked movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a show about city dwellers balancing advantages of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being accused of being a intoxicated stealer, and potentially becoming a risky persona non grata). One might tempting to produce a program about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that punched down at those depicted. This show avoids both, making for a portrait of privileged millennial life that’s honest about the mess and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
