Rachel Sennott appears on the online meeting and right away starts an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, appearing genuinely regretful. Although she's only a bit late, she wants 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!” Luckily, for a writer, this is precisely what you want to experience. Besides, it’s pretty unsurprising. Those familiar with the boldly LGBTQ+ and brash project Bottoms—which she co-wrote with her creative partner and appeared in alongside close companion the talented actress—can already know that she holds a lot to discuss, be it about roles, sex, or the pros of starting a youth brawl society. Plus, once you finish her new eight-part show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries further thoughts regarding the challenges of young adulthood (As a millennial, she represents a bridge of the gang, a tale-end millennial skilled for straddling both generations).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott is an admirer, naming it alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which tracks the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also new representative Maia. Notably, the biggest spot on creative vision belonged to Entourage, that show focusing on an emerging celebrity succeeding in a gritty LA scene (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it during COVID-19, became “captivated”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The idea for the series emerged—partly—from firsthand, at first rocky, relocation to LA and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about phenomenon for astrology heads. This represented a time that saw her understand some big insights, professionally 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
Brought up in New England, Sennott began writing and performing comedy while studying theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. 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 decided to act independently, performing at amateur nights with Ayo and posting hilarious (and distinctly) bizarre skits digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively drawn to motherhood; a different one portrayed being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a thriller. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through campus film circles and ultimately featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her path, she explains, has been contemporaries supporting her, rather than the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, continuing amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Individuals who were skeptical about Sennott earlier will surely be kicking themselves now. As part of she calls a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she seems to have achieved an ideal role. In 2019 she posted a clip named “it’s LA” online, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a comedy about city dwellers juggling the perks of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a risky pariah). One might tempting to produce a show about digital influence that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that punched down at the characters. This show does neither, making for a depiction of privileged twentysomething life that’s candid about the grot and the glamour.
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
