The actress and writer exploring the hilarious show depicting that grotty glamour of today's youth life
Rachel Sennott enters the video call and immediately begins an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, appearing really apologetic. She is only slightly delayed, she wants to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, in this context, this is exactly what you want to experience. Moreover, it’s quite predictable. Those who know the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—which she penned with her creative partner and starred in together with her friend The Bear’s standout—would be aware that she possesses much to share, whether on gender, relationships, or the appeal of creating a youth brawl society. And, once you finish the recent seasonal show I Love LA, viewers realize that the star carries even more perspectives on the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents a bridge for this generation, straddling eras adept for connecting both generations).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, referencing the show together with the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as influences for the project, which follows the journey of online personality Tallulah and close companion and aspiring representative Sennott’s character. However, the largest spot on concept belonged to the HBO series, the HBO sitcom focusing on a rising Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy LA scene (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it throughout the pandemic, became “captivated”, and chose to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The concept for I Love LA emerged—partly—from firsthand, at first fractious, move to LA and from the cosmic event, a popular phenomenon for followers. That period marked an era that included her grasp some big truths, professionally and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “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
Raised in New England, the star commenced writing and performing comedy while enrolled in acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” 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 took matters into her own hands, performing at open mics with her friend and posting hysterical (and distinctly) unconventional skits digitally. One, Baby Cult, centered on several females obsessively fixated on having babies; another imagined being employed at the brand Hollister as akin to being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up featuring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a funeral gathering with echoes of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her path, she explains, has been people her own age supporting her, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, stating amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who questioned regarding Sennott then will certainly be feeling foolish now. Through she describes as a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she has created the perfect project. In 2019 she shared a video called “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a series about city dwellers balancing benefits of internet fame (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being labeled as being a intoxicated stealer, and possibly becoming a risky persona non grata). It would be easy to produce a show about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, making for a portrait of privileged twentysomething existence that’s candid about the grot 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