Rachel Sennott joins the video call and right away launches into an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing truly apologetic. Despite being only slightly delayed, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s precisely what one hopes to experience. Besides, it’s quite predictable. Viewers familiar with the unapologetically openly gay and outspoken movie Bottoms—which she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and featured in together with collaborator The Bear’s standout—can already know that she has plenty to discuss, whether about identity, relationships, or the merits of creating a youth fight club. And, after watching her latest seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds further perspectives on the challenges of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott serves as a relatable figure of the gang, straddling eras with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and Sennott admits to being a fan, naming the show in addition to the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which follows the struggles of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also fledgling agent Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the largest influence on concept went to the HBO series, that HBO sitcom about an emerging Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and decided 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 says. The idea for this project originated—in part—from her own, at first rocky, relocation to LA and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about occurrence for followers. That period marked a time that included her grasp significant truths, professionally and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Raised in New England, Sennott commenced developing and showcasing stand-up 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 explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She seized control, appearing at live shows with her friend and uploading hilarious (and distinctly) unconventional skits digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted several females fetishistically obsessed with motherhood; a different one portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as like being caught in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a religious event with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her career, she says, has been peers supporting her, instead of established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who were skeptical regarding Sennott previously will surely be kicking themselves currently. As part of she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she has manifested an ideal role. Previously she posted a video titled about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she parodied movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about LA residents juggling benefits of online celebrity (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). Some could easy to create a series about online fame that was extremely idealized—or, worse, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA does neither, making for a portrait of affluent young adult living that’s candid 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 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
