Rachel Sennott discussing her uproarious show about the chaotic allure of Gen Z lifestyle
The performer enters the online meeting and immediately starts an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, appearing truly regretful. She is only a bit behind, she feels compelled to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is just what one hopes to encounter. Additionally, it’s quite predictable. Those familiar with her unapologetically openly gay and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—which Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—will understand that Sennott has a lot to say, whether about identity, sex, or the merits of starting a youth fight club. Plus, once you finish the recent eight-part program I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds additional insights on the darker side of modern youth (As a millennial, Sennott represents an honorary member of the gang, straddling eras skilled for connecting both generations).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, naming the show in addition to the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the struggles of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and new agent Maia. However, the most significant presence on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, the HBO sitcom about an emerging A-list actor navigating in a corrupt entertainment industry (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it amid the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist 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 inspiration for this project originated—partly—from her own, originally fractious, transition to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about event for followers. It was a phase that saw her learn some big insights, work-wise and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Brought up in New England, the star began writing and performing humor while enrolled in theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She decided to act independently, appearing at open mics with Ayo and posting uproarious (and very) weird online content on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed several females fetishistically fixated on having babies; another envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being stuck in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a religious event with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her journey, she notes, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, instead of traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Those who were skeptical regarding Sennott then will certainly be feeling foolish now. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” story, she seems to have achieved the perfect project. Previously she uploaded a clip named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about LA residents balancing advantages of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being labeled as being a substance-abusing criminal, and potentially becoming a risky outcast). One might tempting to create a program about digital influence that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at its subjects. The series steers clear of each, making for a depiction of privileged twentysomething living that’s candid about the mess and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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