Rachel Sennott on the uproarious comedy portraying that grotty appeal of younger generation life
The performer appears on the digital interview and at once starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing really apologetic. Despite being only slightly behind, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s just what is ideal to experience. Besides, it’s fairly expected. Viewers who have seen the unapologetically openly gay and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in together with her friend the talented actress—will already know that she has plenty to share, be it about identity, relationships, or the merits of forming a high-school combat group. And, by the end the latest multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that the star holds even more perspectives on the challenges of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott is a relatable figure for this generation, on the cusp skilled for connecting different age groups).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress is a fan, naming it alongside the classic series, Insecure and the innovative program as influences for her series, which tracks the journey of a social media star Tallulah and her friend and aspiring representative Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest spot on creative vision belonged to the popular sitcom, the show depicting an up-and-coming celebrity navigating in a corrupt LA scene (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott began viewing it during COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and decided 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 says. The inspiration for I Love LA came—to some extent—from personal, initially difficult, relocation to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about phenomenon for followers. That period marked a time that included her grasp major insights, professionally and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Brought up in the East Coast, the star started writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at live shows with Edebiri and posting hysterical (and distinctly) weird skits digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically fixated on motherhood; another envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as like being trapped in a scary movie. By chance, she met Seligman through campus film circles and ended up appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her path, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, as opposed to traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who were skeptical about Sennott earlier will surely be kicking themselves today. As part of she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have manifested an ideal role. Previously she uploaded a clip titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a comedy about city dwellers juggling advantages of internet fame (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled thief, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). Some could tempting to create a series about digital influence that was overly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA steers clear of each, resulting in a depiction of advantaged millennial living that’s frank about the mess and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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