Rachel Sennott enters the video call and immediately starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, sounding really apologetic. Although she's only a bit behind, she feels compelled to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s just what you want to hear. Besides, it’s quite predictable. Anyone who know her fearlessly queer and brash project titled Bottoms—which Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside collaborator The Bear’s standout—can understand that Sennott possesses a lot to discuss, ranging from about identity, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a youth brawl society. Plus, by the end her latest eight-part show titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star has even more insights regarding the challenges of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott represents an honorary member for this generation, a tale-end millennial skilled for bridging different age groups).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott is an admirer, citing it together with the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as influences for I Love LA, which follows the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and new representative Sennott’s character. Notably, the biggest presence on creative vision went to the HBO series, the show focusing on a rising A-list actor making his way in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it amid lockdown, became “captivated”, and decided to add a fresh perspective 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 notes. The inspiration for this project originated—partly—from her own, initially rocky, transition to LA and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed occurrence for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that included her grasp some big insights, work-wise and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Raised in New England, the star began writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at amateur nights with Ayo and sharing hilarious (and distinctly) bizarre comedy videos digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women obsessively drawn to motherhood; a different one portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as akin to being caught in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through campus film circles and ended up appearing in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a religious event with hints of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her path, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, as opposed to established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, continuing with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Those who had doubts regarding Sennott earlier will likely be kicking themselves today. In what she describes as a “wild, full-circle” development, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. Previously she uploaded a video titled on LA life on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a series about LA residents juggling advantages of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your client being suspected of being a substance-abusing criminal, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). It would be simple to produce a show about online fame that was overly glamorous—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. This show steers clear of each, creating a representation of affluent twentysomething living that’s candid about the grot and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
