The actress and writer discussing the uproarious comedy about that messy allure of Gen Z life
Rachel Sennott appears on the video call and right away launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, seeming really regretful. Despite being only a couple of minutes late, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s exactly what you want to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty predictable. Viewers who know the boldly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with her creative partner and featured in alongside close companion Ayo Edebiri—can be aware that Sennott holds plenty to discuss, whether on identity, intimacy, or the merits of forming a high-school brawl society. And, by the end the latest eight-part program I Love LA, it is clear that the star has further insights regarding the challenges of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott is a bridge of the gang, straddling eras with a knack for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Parallels to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress is an admirer, referencing it alongside Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the struggles of online personality Tallulah and her friend and new representative Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the most significant spot on creative vision went to Entourage, that HBO sitcom focusing on a rising Hollywood star navigating in an often-seedy LA scene (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it during COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective 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 explains. The concept for this project emerged—to some extent—from her own, initially rocky, relocation to LA and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed event for astrology heads. That period marked a phase that included her understand major truths, professionally and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott began creating and acting humor while enrolled in theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and sharing hysterical (and very) unconventional skits online. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed a group of women obsessively drawn to pregnancy; a different one envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. The big theme of her path, she explains, has been people her own age giving her a shot, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, stating with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who were skeptical regarding her previously will surely be kicking themselves now. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she appears to manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded a clip named on LA life on the internet, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about Angelenos managing benefits of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and possibly becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be tempting to create a program about online fame that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. The series steers clear of each, creating a depiction of affluent twentysomething life that’s honest about the grot and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” she observes. “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