Rachel Sennott joins the video call and immediately starts an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming genuinely regretful. Although she's only slightly delayed, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is just what you want to experience. Besides, it’s quite unsurprising. Those who have seen the fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and starred in alongside her friend The Bear’s standout—will understand that she has a lot to discuss, ranging from on identity, intimacy, or the pros of creating a youth fight club. Furthermore, by the end her new multi-episode program titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star carries additional thoughts about the darker side of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott represents a relatable figure for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges enthusiastic, naming the show together with the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as guides for her series, which follows the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and fledgling representative Maia. Notably, the most significant spot on creative vision went to Entourage, the program about an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott started watching it amid lockdown, became “captivated”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The idea for I Love LA originated—in part—from her own, at first fractious, move to LA and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about occurrence for followers. This represented a time that included her understand major truths, in her career and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Raised in Connecticut, the star began developing and showcasing humor while studying 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.” I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She decided to act independently, appearing at open mics with her friend and posting uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre online content digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted several females fetishistically drawn to having babies; another portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually starring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a religious event with echoes of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her path, she says, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, rather than the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, stating with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Individuals who were skeptical regarding Sennott then will certainly be kicking themselves now. Through she describes as a “astonishingly complete” development, she seems to have created an ideal role. In 2019 she shared content called about Los Angeles online, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a show about city dwellers juggling advantages of internet fame (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and perhaps becoming a risky pariah). It would be easy to create a show about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA does neither, making for a portrait of privileged twentysomething life that’s candid about the chaos and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
