Rachel Sennott enters the video call and at once begins an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, appearing genuinely remorseful. Although she's only a bit late, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, for a writer, this is just what one hopes to encounter. Moreover, it’s quite predictable. Those who know her unapologetically queer and brash project titled Bottoms—that she penned with her creative partner and appeared in with her friend the talented actress—will understand that Sennott holds plenty to say, ranging from about roles, sex, or the appeal of starting a youth fight club. Plus, once you finish the new multi-episode show I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds further perspectives about the challenges of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a bridge of the gang, straddling eras with a knack for connecting both generations).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Parallels to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being a fan, referencing it alongside the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for her series, which tracks the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also fledgling representative Maia. Perhaps, the most significant influence on the moodboard went to the HBO series, that program about an up-and-coming celebrity navigating in a corrupt LA scene (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it amid the pandemic, became “hooked”, and chose to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The idea for the series originated—in part—from firsthand, originally difficult, move to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a popular event for followers. It was a time that saw her learn major life lessons, in her career and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Growing up in New England, the star began creating and acting comedy while enrolled in theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She decided to act independently, performing at open mics with her friend and uploading hilarious (and very) unconventional online content on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women intensely fixated on pregnancy; another portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being stuck in a horror film. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and eventually appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she explains, has been peers supporting her, rather than the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, adding humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Those who questioned regarding her earlier will likely be kicking themselves currently. In what she labels a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to achieved an ideal role. A few years back she uploaded a video called on LA life on the internet, in which she lampooned film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a comedy about Angelenos managing advantages of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being accused of being a substance-abusing stealer, and potentially becoming a risky outcast). One might tempting to make a series about online fame that was horribly idealized—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. I Love LA steers clear of each, creating a representation of privileged millennial life that’s honest about the grot and the shine.
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 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
