Rachel Sennott appears on the digital interview and right away launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely regretful. She is only slightly late, she wants to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s just what one hopes to encounter. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Viewers familiar with her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and outspoken film Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with the director and starred in alongside close companion the talented actress—can be aware that Sennott possesses plenty to discuss, whether about roles, sex, or the pros of creating a high-school brawl society. Furthermore, after watching her latest multi-episode show I Love LA, it is clear that she carries even more perspectives about the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, she is a relatable figure of the gang, straddling eras with a knack for straddling different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress is an admirer, citing it in addition to the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as guides for her series, which details the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and aspiring agent portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the largest presence on concept was reserved for Entourage, that program focusing on an emerging A-list actor navigating in an often-seedy LA scene (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott started watching it amid the pandemic, became “hooked”, and chose to create a new version 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 explains. The inspiration for I Love LA originated—partly—from firsthand, at first rocky, transition to LA and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about occurrence for astrology heads. That period marked an era that saw her grasp major truths, in her career and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “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, Sennott commenced writing and performing humor while pursuing performance at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with Ayo and posting hilarious (and decidedly) unconventional online content on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females intensely obsessed with pregnancy; another portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the intense thriller. The central motif of her path, she explains, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who questioned regarding Sennott previously will likely be feeling foolish today. In what she describes as a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she has achieved her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted a clip called “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about Angelenos balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be easy to produce a show about online fame that was overly idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a depiction of privileged twentysomething existence that’s honest about the grot and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
