🔗 Share this article

Rachel Sennott appears on the video call and at once launches into an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, sounding genuinely apologetic. Despite being only a bit delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, during an interview, that’s precisely what you want to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty unsurprising. Anyone who know the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with the director and appeared in together with close companion Ayo Edebiri—will understand that Sennott has plenty to say, whether on identity, relationships, or the appeal of forming a teen combat group. Furthermore, by the end her recent multi-episode program I Love LA, it is clear that the star carries further perspectives regarding the darker side of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents an honorary member of the gang, a tale-end millennial adept for bridging both generations).

Influences and Creative Vision

Likenesses to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and the actress is enthusiastic, naming the show together with the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as influences for her series, which tracks the journey of an influencer Tallulah and ally who is also aspiring talent manager Maia. Notably, the most significant influence on the moodboard belonged to Entourage, the show depicting an up-and-coming celebrity navigating in a gritty LA scene (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it amid COVID-19, became “hooked”, and resolved to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.

“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The inspiration for this project originated—partly—from personal, originally rocky, transition to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about phenomenon for enthusiasts. That period marked an era that saw her understand some big life lessons, professionally and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Early Beginnings

Brought up in New England, Sennott started developing and showcasing comedy while enrolled in theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”

She seized control, taking the stage at open mics with Edebiri and uploading hysterical (and distinctly) bizarre online content digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed a group of women fetishistically fixated on having babies; a different one envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being stuck in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and eventually starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her journey, she explains, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, rather than the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she repeats, adding amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”

Rising Success

Those who had doubts regarding Sennott earlier will surely be kicking themselves now. In what she describes as a “wild, full-circle” story, she appears to manifested an ideal role. In 2019 she shared a clip called on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers balancing benefits of digital stardom (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being accused of being a intoxicated stealer, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). Some could easy to create a program about digital influence that was overly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at the characters. I Love LA avoids both, making for a portrait of affluent young adult existence that’s frank about the grot and the appeal.

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