Rachel Sennott discussing her uproarious series about the chaotic appeal of today's youth lifestyle
The star enters the online meeting and at once launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, seeming truly remorseful. Despite being only slightly late, she feels compelled to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is exactly what one hopes to experience. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone familiar with her boldly openly gay and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in together with her friend The Bear’s standout—can already know that Sennott has much to share, ranging from on identity, sex, or the merits of starting a high-school brawl society. Plus, by the end the recent eight-part HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that the star holds additional thoughts regarding the challenges of modern youth (Now in her thirties, she serves as a bridge of the gang, on the cusp skilled for straddling different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress is enthusiastic, citing it together with Sex and the City, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as influences for I Love LA, which tracks the struggles of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and fledgling talent manager Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest spot on concept went to the HBO series, the show focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty entertainment industry (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She started watching it amid lockdown, became “captivated”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The inspiration for the series emerged—in part—from personal, originally difficult, transition to LA and from the saturn return, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. It was a phase that saw her learn significant insights, in her career and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Brought up in the East Coast, the star started developing and showcasing humor while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “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 took matters into her own hands, appearing at live shows with Edebiri and uploading hysterical (and decidedly) weird comedy videos on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women fetishistically fixated on motherhood; a different one imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being trapped in a scary movie. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and ended up starring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a Jewish wake with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme 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 repeats, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Those who had doubts about Sennott previously will certainly be feeling foolish now. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” development, she has achieved her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted a video named “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a show about Angelenos managing benefits of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). One might easy to create a program about internet celebrity that was horribly idealized—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA avoids both, making for a portrait of advantaged millennial existence that’s frank about the chaos and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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