Rachel Sennott joins the online meeting and at once begins an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely apologetic. Although she's only slightly late, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s exactly what is ideal to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty unsurprising. Those familiar with her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—which she collaborated on with her creative partner and starred in together with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would already know that she holds a lot to share, ranging from about roles, sex, or the pros of forming a youth fight club. Plus, by the end her new seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds further perspectives regarding the darker side of modern youth (Now in her thirties, she serves as a bridge of the gang, straddling eras skilled for straddling both generations).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, referencing the show alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for the project, which tracks the journey of online personality Tallulah and ally who is also fledgling representative Sennott’s character. However, the largest influence on the moodboard was reserved for the HBO series, the show focusing on an up-and-coming celebrity succeeding in a gritty entertainment industry (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it during the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The inspiration for the series emerged—partly—from firsthand, originally rocky, relocation to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for enthusiasts. This represented a time that included her understand major insights, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” 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 resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Growing up in Connecticut, the star commenced creating and acting comedy while studying acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She seized control, appearing at live shows with her friend and uploading uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre online content digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed several females obsessively drawn to pregnancy; a different one portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her journey, she explains, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who questioned regarding Sennott then will surely be kicking themselves today. Through she describes as a “wild, full-circle” story, she appears to created her dream vehicle. In 2019 she posted a video named “it’s LA” online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a series about Angelenos balancing the perks of internet fame (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be tempting to produce a program about internet celebrity that was extremely glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at those depicted. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a portrait of privileged young adult existence 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 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
