The actress and writer discussing her uproarious comedy about that chaotic appeal of younger generation lifestyle
Rachel Sennott enters the video call and at once launches into an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, seeming really remorseful. Despite being only a bit delayed, she needs to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is exactly what one hopes to encounter. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone who know the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—which she co-wrote with her creative partner and featured in together with her friend The Bear’s standout—would already know that Sennott possesses plenty to share, ranging from on roles, relationships, or the pros of forming a youth combat group. Plus, by the end her new multi-episode HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds additional insights on the challenges of modern youth (At 30, Sennott serves as a bridge for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling different age groups).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges enthusiastic, referencing it alongside Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as guides for I Love LA, which follows the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also new representative Maia. Notably, the most significant influence on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, the program depicting a rising celebrity navigating in an often-seedy LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it throughout lockdown, became “hooked”, and resolved to create a new version 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 I Love LA came—partly—from personal, initially rocky, relocation to LA and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about event for enthusiasts. It was a phase that saw her understand some big truths, work-wise and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” 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…”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in the East Coast, the star commenced developing and showcasing stand-up while pursuing performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” 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?”
She took matters into her own hands, appearing at amateur nights with her friend and sharing hilarious (and distinctly) bizarre online content online. One, Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely obsessed with motherhood; another imagined being employed at the brand Hollister as akin to being trapped in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a religious event with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her career, she says, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, instead of established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, stating amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Anyone who had doubts about her then will certainly be feeling foolish now. In what she calls a “astonishingly complete” development, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded a video called “it’s LA” online, in which she parodied film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a show about city dwellers balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your associate being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a risky outcast). It would be tempting to create a program about digital influence that was extremely aspirational—or, worse, one that punched down at those depicted. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a depiction of advantaged twentysomething life that’s candid about the mess and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
