The actress and writer exploring her hilarious show portraying that messy appeal of Gen Z existence
Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and immediately begins an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, sounding really remorseful. Although she's only a bit late, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s just what you want to encounter. Besides, it’s fairly unsurprising. Viewers who know her fearlessly queer and brash project titled Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with her creative partner and starred in alongside her friend The Bear’s standout—can already know that Sennott holds much to share, whether on identity, intimacy, or the pros of forming a youth brawl society. And, after watching the latest eight-part program titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star carries even more perspectives regarding the darker side of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott is an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp skilled for bridging different age groups).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, naming it together with Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as inspirations for the project, which tracks the journey of an influencer Tallulah and ally and aspiring talent manager Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the biggest presence on creative vision went to the HBO series, the program focusing on an emerging Hollywood star navigating in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott started watching it amid lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The inspiration for I Love LA emerged—partly—from her own, at first fractious, move to LA and from the cosmic event, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. That period marked a phase that saw her understand major truths, work-wise and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott started creating and acting humor while pursuing performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at open mics with her friend and posting hilarious (and very) weird comedy videos digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted characters fetishistically obsessed with motherhood; another imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being stuck in a horror film. By chance, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and ended up featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her path, she explains, has been peers supporting her, rather than traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, stating with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who questioned regarding Sennott previously will surely be regretting it now. As part of she describes as a “astonishingly complete” story, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted content called about Los Angeles online, in which she mocked film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a series about Angelenos juggling the perks of internet fame (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being suspected of being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a unreliable persona non grata). One might easy to make a series about digital influence that was horribly glamorous—or, worse, one that punched down at those depicted. The series steers clear of each, making for a representation of advantaged young adult living that’s candid about the grot and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“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
