Rachel Sennott enters the video call and right away starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing genuinely remorseful. She is only a couple of minutes delayed, she feels compelled to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s exactly what one hopes to experience. Moreover, it’s fairly predictable. Those familiar with the boldly openly gay and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with the director and appeared in together with collaborator the talented actress—will understand that she has much to share, be it about roles, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a teen combat group. And, by the end the new eight-part show I Love LA, it is clear that the star carries further thoughts on the struggles of modern youth (As a millennial, Sennott serves as an honorary member of the gang, straddling eras with a knack for straddling both generations).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, citing the show in addition to Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for her series, which details the journey of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the largest influence on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, the show focusing on an up-and-coming A-list actor navigating in a gritty LA scene (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it during lockdown, became “hooked”, and decided to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The inspiration for the series originated—partly—from firsthand, initially fractious, move to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about phenomenon for followers. This represented an era that saw her grasp major life lessons, professionally and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Raised in the East Coast, the star started creating and acting comedy while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott seized control, performing at open mics with Ayo and uploading hilarious (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on several females obsessively obsessed with having babies; another portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a religious event with shades of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her career, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, as opposed to traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, continuing humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who had doubts regarding Sennott then will certainly be kicking themselves today. In what she describes as a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she has achieved her dream vehicle. Previously she uploaded a clip titled about Los Angeles online, in which she mocked movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a series about city dwellers juggling the perks of internet fame (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being labeled as being a drug-addled criminal, and perhaps becoming a risky outcast). It would be easy to create a program about online fame that was overly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a depiction of advantaged millennial existence that’s frank about the chaos and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
