Rachel Sennott discussing her side-splitting show portraying the grotty allure of younger generation lifestyle
The performer joins the digital interview and immediately launches into an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, appearing truly apologetic. Despite being only slightly late, she feels compelled to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, in this context, that’s exactly what one hopes to hear. Besides, it’s pretty expected. Those who have seen the unapologetically openly gay and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—which she penned with Emma Seligman and starred in alongside her friend The Bear’s standout—will already know that Sennott holds plenty to share, be it about identity, sex, or the pros of forming a youth brawl society. Furthermore, by the end the latest eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that she holds further thoughts about the challenges of modern youth (As a millennial, Sennott represents a bridge for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, citing the show alongside the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as inspirations for the project, which tracks the journey of an influencer Tallulah and close companion and fledgling talent manager Sennott’s character. Notably, the most significant spot on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, the HBO sitcom depicting an emerging Hollywood star succeeding in a corrupt entertainment industry (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it during lockdown, became “hooked”, and chose to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The inspiration for I Love LA originated—to some extent—from firsthand, initially difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. It was an era that involved her understand major truths, in her career and personally. “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.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Growing up in New England, the star started writing and performing comedy while studying theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at amateur nights with Ayo and posting hysterical (and decidedly) unconventional online content online. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters intensely drawn to having babies; another portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being stuck in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she notes, has been peers giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, continuing with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who questioned regarding Sennott earlier will surely be regretting it now. As part of she describes as a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to achieved the perfect project. Previously she posted a clip named on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about Angelenos juggling benefits of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and perhaps becoming a risky outcast). One might easy to create a show about internet celebrity that was overly idealized—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA does neither, creating a portrait of advantaged millennial living that’s candid about the chaos and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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