Rachel Sennott joins the online meeting and at once starts an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, sounding genuinely remorseful. Despite being only a couple of minutes delayed, she wants to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, in this context, that’s precisely what one hopes to hear. Besides, it’s pretty unsurprising. Anyone who have seen her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and brash movie Bottoms—which she collaborated on with the director and appeared in with close companion The Bear’s standout—will already know that she possesses a lot to say, be it about roles, sex, or the pros of starting a youth brawl society. Furthermore, once you finish the latest multi-episode program titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds additional perspectives on the struggles of modern youth (As a millennial, she is a relatable figure for this generation, straddling eras skilled for connecting different age groups).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott is enthusiastic, referencing the show in addition to the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which tracks the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and ally and aspiring talent manager Maia. Notably, the biggest spot on creative vision was reserved for the HBO series, that program depicting a rising A-list actor making his way in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it during the pandemic, became “captivated”, and chose to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The concept for the series emerged—in part—from her own, initially fractious, transition to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed occurrence for astrology heads. That period marked a phase that saw her grasp major insights, in her career and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Raised in New England, the star started developing and showcasing humor while enrolled in performance at NYU’s Tisch. “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.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She seized control, performing at open mics with Edebiri and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) bizarre comedy videos digitally. One, Baby Cult, centered on a group of women fetishistically obsessed with motherhood; another imagined working at the brand Hollister as akin to being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up featuring in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of the intense thriller. The central motif of her journey, she says, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, instead of traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, continuing with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who were skeptical about her previously will certainly be kicking themselves today. As part of she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have created the perfect project. Previously she shared a video titled on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a show about LA residents managing benefits of internet fame (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). One might simple to make a series about internet celebrity that was extremely idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. This show steers clear of each, making for a depiction of affluent millennial existence that’s honest about the grot and the glamour.
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 comments. “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
