Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and at once launches into an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, seeming really regretful. She is only a bit delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s just what you want to encounter. Moreover, it’s pretty predictable. Anyone familiar with the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken film titled Bottoms—that Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and featured in with close companion The Bear’s standout—will be aware that Sennott possesses much to share, ranging from on identity, sex, or the merits of creating a high-school combat group. And, once you finish her new seasonal show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she has additional perspectives regarding the struggles of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott serves as a bridge to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial adept for straddling different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Parallels to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges an admirer, citing the show alongside the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and aspiring representative Maia. Perhaps, the largest spot on concept was reserved for the popular sitcom, that show focusing on an up-and-coming A-list actor succeeding in a gritty LA scene (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it during COVID-19, became “captivated”, and decided to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The idea for this project emerged—partly—from firsthand, originally fractious, relocation to LA and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about event for enthusiasts. It was an era that saw her learn significant truths, in her career and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” 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
Brought up in Connecticut, the star commenced writing and performing humor while pursuing performance at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with her friend and posting hysterical (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women obsessively obsessed with having babies; a different one envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a thriller. By chance, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a religious event with echoes of the intense thriller. The central motif of her journey, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, as opposed to traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, adding amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who were skeptical regarding Sennott earlier will surely be feeling foolish currently. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she seems to have achieved the perfect project. In 2019 she uploaded a video titled about Los Angeles online, in which she parodied film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a series about LA residents balancing advantages of internet fame (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a unreliable persona non grata). Some could simple to create a program about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at those depicted. This show avoids both, resulting in a portrait of affluent young adult existence that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
