Rachel Sennott on her uproarious series about the grotty appeal of today's youth existence

The star joins the digital interview and at once begins an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, seeming truly remorseful. She is only a couple of minutes behind, she needs to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, in this context, this is exactly what is ideal to hear. Additionally, it’s fairly expected. Anyone who know her fearlessly openly gay and brash movie titled Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and featured in together with her friend Ayo Edebiri—can understand that Sennott has a lot to discuss, be it on gender, intimacy, or the merits of forming a teen fight club. And, by the end the latest seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star carries further thoughts about the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott represents a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for connecting millennials and Gen Z).

Inspirations and Creative Vision

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, citing the show alongside Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which details the journey of online personality Tallulah and ally and fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the biggest influence on the moodboard went to the popular sitcom, the program focusing on an emerging celebrity making his way in a gritty LA scene (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it during lockdown, became “hooked”, and resolved to create a new version 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 explains. The idea for this project came—to some extent—from her own, initially rocky, transition to LA and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that saw her grasp significant life lessons, in her career and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Starting Out

Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott started developing and showcasing stand-up 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. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”

Sennott decided to act independently, performing at amateur nights with Edebiri and uploading uproarious (and very) weird online content online. One, Baby Cult, depicted several females intensely drawn to pregnancy; another envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being caught in a scary movie. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and ended up appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a Jewish wake with echoes of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her journey, she says, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, adding with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Rising Success

Anyone who were skeptical about Sennott earlier will surely be kicking themselves now. In what she calls a “astonishingly complete” story, she seems to have created the perfect project. In 2019 she shared content called about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she lampooned film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a series about Angelenos balancing benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being suspected of being a drug-addled thief, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). One might easy to produce a program about online fame that was overly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. I Love LA does neither, creating a representation of privileged twentysomething life that’s candid about the mess and the shine.

Balanced Perspective

“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

Danielle Johnson
Danielle Johnson

A seasoned tech journalist with over a decade of experience covering emerging technologies and digital trends across Europe.