Rachel Sennott joins the online meeting and right away starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, appearing truly remorseful. Although she's only a bit behind, she feels compelled to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is just what one hopes to encounter. Moreover, it’s quite unsurprising. Viewers familiar with the boldly openly gay and brash movie Bottoms—which she penned with Emma Seligman and starred in with her friend Ayo Edebiri—will already know that she holds a lot to share, be it about gender, sex, or the appeal of starting a teen combat group. Furthermore, by the end her recent eight-part program titled I Love LA, it is clear that she has even more insights about the darker side of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she is a relatable figure of the gang, on the cusp with a knack for bridging both generations).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, referencing it in addition to the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for her series, which tracks the journey of online personality Tallulah and her friend and fledgling talent manager Maia. However, the largest presence on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, that HBO sitcom depicting an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and decided to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The inspiration for I Love LA emerged—to some extent—from firsthand, at first rocky, move to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed occurrence for enthusiasts. This represented a time that involved her learn major insights, professionally 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.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Brought up in Connecticut, the star started writing and performing humor while enrolled in performance at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “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.”
She seized control, appearing at open mics with her friend and posting uproarious (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted characters obsessively fixated on motherhood; a different one imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being stuck in a scary movie. 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 Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. The big theme of her career, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, rather than the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who questioned about her previously will likely be regretting it now. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” development, she appears to achieved the perfect project. Previously she posted a video named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about LA residents balancing advantages of internet fame (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being suspected of being a substance-abusing thief, and possibly becoming a risky persona non grata). Some could easy to make a program about digital influence that was horribly glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at the characters. This show avoids both, making for a portrait of affluent twentysomething living that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
