The actress and writer on her hilarious comedy depicting the messy glamour of Gen Z existence
Rachel Sennott appears on the video call and at once begins an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing really remorseful. Although she's only a couple of minutes delayed, she feels compelled 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, that’s exactly what is ideal to hear. Besides, it’s pretty unsurprising. Those who have seen the boldly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in with close companion The Bear’s standout—will understand that she holds a lot to discuss, whether about identity, relationships, or the pros of forming a high-school brawl society. And, after watching her new eight-part program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she has further insights about the struggles of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a bridge to younger audiences, on the cusp with a knack for straddling both generations).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress is a fan, citing it in addition to Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as influences for the project, which tracks the struggles of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also fledgling representative Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the biggest influence on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, the show focusing on an up-and-coming celebrity succeeding in a gritty entertainment industry (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it throughout lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose 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 concept for the series originated—in part—from firsthand, at first rocky, move to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a popular event for enthusiasts. This represented a phase that involved her understand some big truths, in her career and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Growing up in New England, Sennott began creating and acting 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 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.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at open mics with Edebiri and uploading hilarious (and very) bizarre comedy videos on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women fetishistically fixated on pregnancy; a different one imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being caught in a thriller. By chance, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a religious event with shades of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her journey, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, rather than traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who had doubts about her previously will likely be feeling foolish today. Through she describes as a “astonishingly complete” story, she seems to have created an ideal role. Previously she shared a clip called about Los Angeles online, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a show about LA residents balancing benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be easy to create a series about digital influence that was extremely aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at the characters. I Love LA steers clear of each, making for a depiction of affluent millennial existence that’s frank about the mess and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
