Rachel Sennott enters the video call and immediately starts an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, appearing genuinely apologetic. She is only slightly behind, she wants to explain. “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!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s just what is ideal to encounter. Moreover, it’s pretty expected. Anyone familiar with the boldly queer and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—that she penned with her creative partner and featured in together with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—will understand that she holds a lot to discuss, whether about gender, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a youth fight club. Furthermore, after watching her recent seasonal HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that she carries additional thoughts on the challenges of modern youth (At 30, Sennott represents an honorary member of the gang, straddling eras adept for connecting both generations).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott is an admirer, naming the show in addition to the HBO hit, Insecure and Atlanta as inspirations for her series, which tracks the travails of an influencer Tallulah and her friend who is also new agent Maia. Notably, the largest presence on the moodboard was reserved for Entourage, the program about an emerging celebrity succeeding in a corrupt entertainment industry (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott started watching it during the pandemic, became “hooked”, and decided 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 notes. The concept for I Love LA emerged—partly—from her own, at first rocky, transition to LA and from her astrological phase, a popular phenomenon for followers. This represented a phase that involved her grasp some big life lessons, work-wise and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Growing up in New England, Sennott began creating and acting humor while studying performance at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She took matters into her own hands, performing at amateur nights with Edebiri and posting uproarious (and distinctly) weird online content digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted several females fetishistically drawn to motherhood; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her path, she explains, has been peers giving her a shot, instead of the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, stating humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who had doubts about Sennott previously will likely be regretting it currently. In what she calls a “astonishingly complete” development, she has achieved an ideal role. In 2019 she shared content called about Los Angeles online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers managing the perks of internet fame (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your associate being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and possibly becoming a risky pariah). Some could simple to create a series about internet celebrity that was extremely idealized—or, more problematic, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, creating a portrait of affluent twentysomething living that’s candid about the grot and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she observes. “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
