Rachel Sennott appears on the online meeting and right away launches into an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, sounding truly regretful. Despite being only slightly behind, 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!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s just what you want to experience. Besides, it’s fairly predictable. Those familiar with the unapologetically queer and brash film titled Bottoms—which Sennott penned with the director and featured in alongside collaborator the talented actress—will already know that she possesses a lot to share, be it about gender, intimacy, or the pros of starting a high-school combat group. And, by the end the new eight-part HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that she has further insights regarding the challenges of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott is an honorary member for this generation, on the cusp skilled for connecting different age groups).
Influences and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress admits to being an admirer, referencing it in addition to the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as guides for I Love LA, which details the struggles of online personality Tallulah and close companion and aspiring agent portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the biggest spot on concept belonged to the popular sitcom, that HBO sitcom about an up-and-coming A-list actor making his way in a corrupt Hollywood (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott started watching it during the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and decided to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The idea for this project came—partly—from personal, at first difficult, move to LA and from her cosmic event, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. This represented a phase that involved her grasp significant life lessons, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott began writing and performing comedy while enrolled in acting at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She decided to act independently, appearing at amateur nights with Ayo and sharing hysterical (and distinctly) unconventional online content on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely fixated on having babies; a different one portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as like being caught in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a religious event with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her journey, she explains, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who had doubts about Sennott previously will surely be kicking themselves now. Through she labels a “wild, full-circle” development, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted content named “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about city dwellers balancing advantages of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being labeled as being a substance-abusing thief, and possibly becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be easy to make a program about internet celebrity that was overly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at its subjects. I Love LA steers clear of each, making for a representation of privileged millennial living that’s candid about the chaos 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
