The actress and writer on her hilarious show about that chaotic allure of younger generation life
Rachel Sennott enters the video call and right away begins an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, seeming genuinely apologetic. She is only slightly delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, in this context, this is precisely what one hopes to experience. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Those familiar with her boldly openly gay and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with her creative partner and starred in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—would understand that she possesses much to discuss, be it about gender, intimacy, or the merits of forming a youth brawl society. Plus, by the end her latest eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she carries additional thoughts regarding the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she serves as a relatable figure for this generation, a tale-end millennial adept for bridging both generations).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, naming the show in addition to the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and new agent portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the biggest presence on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, that show focusing on an emerging Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy LA scene (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott began viewing it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and resolved to create a new version 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 notes. The idea for the series came—in part—from her own, at first rocky, transition to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. That period marked a phase that saw her understand some big insights, work-wise and in private life. “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
Brought up in the East Coast, the star commenced creating and acting comedy while enrolled in performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at open mics with her friend and sharing hysterical (and very) weird skits online. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters intensely obsessed with motherhood; a different one imagined working at the brand Hollister as similar to being trapped in a thriller. By chance, she connected with Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her path, she says, has been peers offering opportunities, rather than the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, stating amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who had doubts regarding Sennott then will surely be regretting it currently. As part of she calls a “incredibly circular” development, she has created her dream vehicle. Previously she shared content titled “it’s LA” online, in which she mocked movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a series about city dwellers balancing benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being suspected of being a substance-abusing thief, and possibly becoming a risky persona non grata). It would be tempting to make a program about digital influence that was overly glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at those depicted. The series avoids both, making for a representation of affluent young adult living that’s frank about the grot and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” she comments. “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
