Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and immediately starts an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, seeming really remorseful. She is only a couple of minutes delayed, she needs to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, during an interview, that’s exactly what is ideal to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Those who have seen her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken movie Bottoms—that she co-wrote with the director and appeared in alongside close companion The Bear’s standout—will be aware that she has a lot to say, ranging from about identity, sex, or the pros of forming a high-school fight club. And, by the end the recent multi-episode program I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds even more perspectives about the struggles of young adulthood (At 30, she serves as a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp skilled for bridging different age groups).
Influences and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, naming it in addition to the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as inspirations for the project, which details the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also fledgling talent manager Sennott’s character. However, the biggest spot on concept went to the popular sitcom, the show about an emerging Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it during COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and decided 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 says. The inspiration for this project came—to some extent—from her own, initially difficult, relocation to LA and from her astrological phase, a popular phenomenon for followers. It was a phase that saw her grasp significant truths, professionally and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Raised in New England, the star started writing and performing comedy while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “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.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She decided to act independently, performing at open mics with Edebiri and sharing uproarious (and distinctly) weird comedy videos digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females intensely drawn to pregnancy; a different one imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being caught in a thriller. By chance, she met Emma through NYU’s movie community and ultimately featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her career, she notes, has been people her own age giving her a shot, as opposed to established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, adding humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who questioned about Sennott then will certainly be regretting it currently. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” story, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. A few years back she uploaded a clip called about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she lampooned film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a comedy about LA residents managing advantages of digital stardom (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being accused of being a substance-abusing criminal, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). It would be simple to produce a series about online fame that was horribly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that mocked at its subjects. I Love LA steers clear of each, resulting in a portrait of privileged young adult life that’s frank about the grot and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
