The actress and writer on her side-splitting comedy portraying that messy allure of younger generation life
Rachel Sennott joins the video call and at once begins an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming truly remorseful. Although she's only a bit late, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is exactly what is ideal to hear. Besides, it’s quite predictable. Viewers who have seen the boldly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—that she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside close companion the talented actress—will understand that Sennott holds a lot to share, be it on roles, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a youth fight club. Plus, after watching the latest eight-part program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds even more thoughts about the darker side of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she represents a bridge to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial skilled for straddling different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott is a fan, citing the show together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for the project, which details the journey of a social media star Tallulah and ally and aspiring agent Maia. Notably, the most significant presence on concept was reserved for the HBO series, that program focusing on a rising A-list actor navigating in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She began viewing it throughout the pandemic, became “hooked”, and decided to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The idea for I Love LA emerged—in part—from her own, initially rocky, relocation to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about phenomenon for enthusiasts. That period marked an era that involved her understand significant life lessons, work-wise and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “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
Raised in New England, the star commenced creating and acting comedy while enrolled in acting at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She took matters into her own hands, appearing at open mics with Ayo and posting uproarious (and very) weird comedy videos digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on several females intensely fixated on pregnancy; a different one imagined being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being trapped in a horror film. By chance, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and ended up featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, continuing with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who were skeptical about her previously will certainly be kicking themselves currently. Through she calls a “astonishingly complete” development, she appears to achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she posted content called about Los Angeles online, in which she parodied movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a show about LA residents managing benefits of internet fame (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being labeled as being a drug-addled stealer, and potentially becoming a unreliable persona non grata). One might easy to produce a show about digital influence that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at those depicted. I Love LA does neither, creating a depiction of advantaged millennial life that’s candid about the grot and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
