Rachel Sennott on her side-splitting series portraying the chaotic glamour of younger generation existence
Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and at once launches into an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, appearing genuinely apologetic. Although she's only a bit delayed, she wants 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!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is exactly what you want to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty unsurprising. Anyone familiar with the boldly openly gay and outspoken movie Bottoms—which Sennott penned with her creative partner and appeared in with close companion the talented actress—will already know that she possesses plenty to share, be it on roles, sex, or the pros of creating a youth brawl society. And, after watching her latest eight-part show I Love LA, viewers realize that she has even more perspectives regarding the darker side of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents a relatable figure of the gang, on the cusp adept for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, naming it in addition to Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as guides for the project, which tracks the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also fledgling agent Maia. Perhaps, the biggest spot on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, that show focusing on an emerging A-list actor succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it throughout COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and decided to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The concept for the series emerged—in part—from her own, initially difficult, move to Tinseltown and from the saturn return, a popular phenomenon for enthusiasts. This represented a phase that included her understand significant truths, professionally and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Brought up in New England, Sennott began writing and performing humor while enrolled in performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at amateur nights with Ayo and posting hysterical (and very) weird skits online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women obsessively drawn to pregnancy; a different one imagined being employed at the brand Hollister as like being stuck in a thriller. By chance, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and ended up featuring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her path, she explains, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who had doubts about Sennott previously will surely be feeling foolish today. As part of she labels a “wild, full-circle” development, she has achieved an ideal role. Previously she shared a video named “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a show about Angelenos balancing benefits of internet fame (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and possibly becoming a unreliable outcast). One might easy to create a show about internet celebrity that was extremely aspirational—or, more problematic, one that mocked at its subjects. This show does neither, creating a depiction of affluent millennial existence that’s candid about the chaos 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