Rachel Sennott joins the online meeting and immediately launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, sounding genuinely remorseful. Despite being only slightly behind, she feels compelled to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, during an interview, this is precisely what one hopes to experience. Additionally, it’s pretty predictable. Those who have seen her unapologetically openly gay and outspoken project titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with the director and appeared in with her friend the talented actress—would be aware that she holds a lot to share, whether on roles, relationships, or the merits of starting a youth fight club. Plus, by the end her new seasonal program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries even more insights on the struggles of modern youth (At 30, Sennott is a bridge of the gang, straddling eras skilled for connecting both generations).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, naming it in addition to the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as influences for her series, which follows the journey of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and aspiring agent Sennott’s character. However, the largest influence on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, that show depicting an emerging Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy LA scene (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it amid lockdown, became “captivated”, 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 notes. The idea for I Love LA came—partly—from personal, initially rocky, move to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. This represented a time that saw her understand some big life lessons, in her career and in private life. “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…”
Early Beginnings
Raised in Connecticut, the star commenced creating and acting humor while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott seized control, performing at open mics with Ayo and posting uproarious (and decidedly) weird comedy videos digitally. One, Baby Cult, followed characters obsessively fixated on pregnancy; another imagined being employed at a trendy retail outlet as like being trapped in a thriller. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a funeral gathering with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her path, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, instead of the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, stating with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who had doubts about her then will certainly be regretting it today. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” story, she has created the perfect project. A few years back she shared a video titled on LA life on social media, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a series about city dwellers balancing the perks of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being labeled as being a drug-addled stealer, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). One might tempting to produce a series about digital influence that was extremely aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at its subjects. This show steers clear of each, creating a depiction of affluent twentysomething existence that’s honest about the grot and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she says. “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
