Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and at once starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing genuinely remorseful. Despite being only a couple of minutes late, she needs to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s just what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s fairly expected. Anyone familiar with the boldly openly gay and brash project Bottoms—which Sennott penned with her creative partner and starred in together with collaborator The Bear’s standout—will understand that Sennott possesses a lot to say, be it on identity, sex, or the appeal of creating a teen fight club. And, by the end the recent multi-episode program I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries additional insights about the challenges of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she is an honorary member to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial adept for connecting both generations).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress admits to being an admirer, referencing the show in addition to Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the journey of a social media star Tallulah and her friend and fledgling agent Maia. Notably, the most significant influence on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, the HBO sitcom focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in a gritty LA scene (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it amid lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose to add a fresh perspective 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 notes. The concept for I Love LA came—in part—from personal, originally fractious, transition to Tinseltown and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about event for followers. It was a phase that saw her learn major truths, in her career and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Growing up in New England, Sennott commenced creating and acting stand-up while studying performance at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She seized control, taking the stage at live shows with Edebiri and sharing hilarious (and decidedly) unconventional skits digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely obsessed with pregnancy; another imagined being employed at the brand Hollister as like being stuck in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up featuring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her path, 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 confirms, adding humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who questioned about Sennott earlier will likely be kicking themselves currently. As part of she labels a “astonishingly complete” development, she has achieved the perfect project. Previously she shared content called on LA life on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers balancing advantages of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). One might tempting to produce a series about online fame that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. The series does neither, making for a representation of advantaged millennial life that’s frank about the mess and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“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
