Rachel Sennott discussing the uproarious comedy depicting the grotty glamour of today's youth existence
The performer enters the video call and at once starts an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, seeming really regretful. Despite being only slightly behind, she needs to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, during an interview, this is precisely what you want to encounter. Besides, it’s quite expected. Viewers who know her fearlessly queer and brash film Bottoms—which she penned with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside close companion Ayo Edebiri—can already know that Sennott holds much to say, be it on identity, sex, or the merits of creating a youth combat group. And, once you finish her new eight-part show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star carries even more thoughts regarding the struggles of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott is an honorary member of the gang, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling different age groups).
Influences and Creative Vision
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress admits to being a fan, naming the show alongside Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as inspirations for the project, which tracks the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and close companion who is also aspiring agent portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the largest presence on creative vision belonged to Entourage, that HBO sitcom depicting an emerging A-list actor navigating in a corrupt LA scene (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it throughout COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The concept for the series emerged—to some extent—from her own, originally difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a popular event for enthusiasts. This represented a time that included her grasp major life lessons, work-wise and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” 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…”
Humble Origins
Growing up in Connecticut, the star began writing and performing stand-up while pursuing acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at live shows with Edebiri and sharing hilarious (and decidedly) bizarre comedy videos digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely fixated on having babies; a different one portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being caught in a thriller. Interestingly, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and ended up appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a religious event with shades of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her journey, she explains, has been people her own age giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she repeats, stating amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who were skeptical about Sennott previously will likely be regretting it now. As part of she labels a “astonishingly complete” development, she has manifested the perfect project. In 2019 she posted a video named “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a series about city dwellers juggling benefits of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being labeled as being a drug-addled stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be simple to create a show about internet celebrity that was extremely idealized—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, making for a representation of affluent millennial existence that’s candid about the mess and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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