Rachel Sennott joins the online meeting and immediately begins an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, appearing really apologetic. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, she feels compelled 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, this is exactly what you want to experience. Additionally, it’s quite expected. Viewers familiar with the boldly LGBTQ+ and outspoken project titled Bottoms—that Sennott penned with the director and starred in alongside collaborator the talented actress—can be aware that she holds plenty to say, ranging from on roles, sex, or the appeal of forming a high-school brawl society. Plus, by the end her new seasonal program I Love LA, it is clear that the star has further insights regarding the challenges of modern youth (Now in her thirties, she is a relatable figure to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial skilled for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Parallels to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, citing it alongside Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which follows the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also fledgling talent manager Sennott’s character. However, the most significant spot on concept went to Entourage, the program focusing on an emerging A-list actor succeeding in a gritty entertainment industry (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it throughout lockdown, became “captivated”, and resolved 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 explains. The inspiration for this project emerged—in part—from personal, originally difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for astrology heads. It was an era that saw her understand major truths, work-wise and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Brought up in New England, Sennott started writing and performing comedy while pursuing acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She seized control, performing at amateur nights with Edebiri and sharing uproarious (and decidedly) bizarre comedy videos digitally. One, Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively obsessed with having babies; another envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being trapped in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a funeral gathering with echoes of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her path, she explains, has been contemporaries supporting her, as opposed to the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, stating with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who had doubts regarding her then will certainly be regretting it today. In what she labels a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to achieved an ideal role. A few years back she shared content named on LA life online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a series about city dwellers balancing advantages of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled thief, and potentially becoming a unreliable outcast). One might tempting to produce a show about digital influence that was horribly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. The series does neither, making for a depiction of advantaged millennial living that’s frank about the grot and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
