Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and right away begins an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, seeming really remorseful. Although she's only slightly late, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, in this context, this is just what one hopes to encounter. Moreover, it’s fairly unsurprising. Those familiar with her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—which she penned with the director and appeared in alongside collaborator The Bear’s standout—will already know that Sennott holds a lot to say, ranging from about gender, sex, or the pros of forming a youth brawl society. Plus, after watching the recent multi-episode program titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds further insights regarding the challenges of Gen Z life (At 30, Sennott is a relatable figure for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for straddling both generations).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being a fan, referencing it alongside the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as influences for her series, which follows the struggles of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and aspiring agent portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the most significant influence on the moodboard was reserved for the HBO series, that show depicting an emerging Hollywood star navigating in a corrupt LA scene (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She began viewing it amid lockdown, became “captivated”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective 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 the series originated—in part—from firsthand, originally fractious, transition to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about occurrence for enthusiasts. This represented a phase that included her understand major insights, work-wise and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott started writing and performing humor while pursuing performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “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.”
She decided to act independently, appearing at live shows with her friend and uploading hysterical (and decidedly) weird skits online. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women intensely drawn to having babies; a different one imagined being employed at the brand Hollister as akin to being stuck in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a Jewish wake with shades of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her journey, she says, has been peers giving her a shot, instead of the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, stating amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who had doubts regarding her then will likely be feeling foolish now. As part of she describes as a “incredibly circular” story, she has created her dream vehicle. A few years back she uploaded a video named on LA life on social media, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about Angelenos juggling advantages of digital stardom (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a risky persona non grata). It would be tempting to produce a program about online fame that was horribly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that punched down at those depicted. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a representation of advantaged millennial life that’s honest about the chaos and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” she comments. “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
