Rachel Sennott appears on the digital interview and at once launches into an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, seeming really remorseful. Despite being only slightly behind, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, for a writer, this is just what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s quite expected. Viewers who know her unapologetically openly gay and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—which she co-wrote with the director and featured in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—can understand that Sennott has plenty to say, whether on gender, relationships, or the appeal of starting a youth fight club. And, after watching the new seasonal show I Love LA, it is clear that the star carries further perspectives about the challenges of young adulthood (At 30, she is a relatable figure for this generation, a tale-end millennial adept for bridging both generations).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress admits to being an admirer, citing the show in addition to the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and ally who is also fledgling agent Maia. However, the most significant presence on creative vision went to the popular sitcom, that show about a rising A-list actor navigating in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it amid COVID-19, became “captivated”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The inspiration for this project emerged—to some extent—from firsthand, at first rocky, move to Tinseltown and from the saturn return, a much-talked-about phenomenon for enthusiasts. This represented an era that involved her learn some big insights, in her career and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Growing up in Connecticut, the star started writing and performing humor while studying performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott seized control, performing at amateur nights with Edebiri and sharing hysterical (and very) weird online content online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely drawn to having babies; a different one imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being stuck in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she explains, has been peers offering opportunities, rather than traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, adding amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Individuals who had doubts regarding Sennott earlier will likely be feeling foolish today. In what she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she appears to created the perfect project. A few years back she posted a video called on LA life online, 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 comedy about city dwellers juggling advantages of internet fame (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your client being labeled as being a substance-abusing criminal, and potentially becoming a risky outcast). Some could easy to make a show about online fame that was overly aspirational—or, worse, one that punched down at the characters. This show does neither, making for a portrait of affluent twentysomething existence that’s honest about the chaos and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
