The actress and writer exploring her uproarious show portraying the grotty glamour of today's youth existence
Rachel Sennott appears on the digital interview and at once launches into an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, sounding really remorseful. Despite being only a couple of minutes late, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, in this context, that’s just what is ideal to experience. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Anyone who know the fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—that she collaborated on with the director and starred in with close companion The Bear’s standout—can already know that Sennott possesses a lot to say, ranging from on gender, relationships, or the pros of forming a youth brawl society. Furthermore, once you finish her recent multi-episode show titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star has even more perspectives regarding the challenges of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott represents an honorary member for this generation, a tale-end millennial adept for bridging different age groups).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress is an admirer, referencing it together with the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as guides for her series, which details the struggles of online personality Tallulah and ally who is also aspiring agent Sennott’s character. However, the biggest spot on the moodboard went to the popular sitcom, that show depicting an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it amid the pandemic, became “captivated”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The idea for this project emerged—to some extent—from her own, originally fractious, transition to LA and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about phenomenon for followers. This represented a time that saw her grasp significant life lessons, professionally and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott commenced creating and acting humor while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “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.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott seized control, appearing at live shows with Edebiri and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) bizarre skits digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively drawn to motherhood; another imagined being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being caught in a horror film. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up appearing in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age giving her a shot, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Those who had doubts regarding Sennott earlier will likely be regretting it now. Through she labels a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she has achieved the perfect project. Previously she posted a clip titled about Los Angeles on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a show about city dwellers managing advantages of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and perhaps becoming a unreliable pariah). One might easy to make a series about digital influence that was horribly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, making for a portrait of affluent young adult existence that’s honest about the chaos and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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