🔗 Share this article

Rachel Sennott appears on the video call and at once starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, seeming really regretful. Although she's only a couple of minutes delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, in this context, this is just what you want to experience. Additionally, it’s quite predictable. Anyone who know the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and brash movie titled Bottoms—which she co-wrote with her creative partner and starred in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—can understand that Sennott possesses much to say, ranging from on gender, relationships, or the pros of forming a teen brawl society. And, after watching her latest multi-episode program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star carries further thoughts about the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, she serves as a bridge for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for straddling different age groups).

Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges enthusiastic, citing 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 travails of an influencer Tallulah and close companion and new representative Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the largest presence on the moodboard went to the HBO series, that HBO sitcom about a rising celebrity making his way in a gritty LA scene (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it amid the pandemic, became “captivated”, and resolved to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The concept for this project emerged—partly—from her own, originally rocky, transition to LA and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about phenomenon for followers. It was a phase that included her grasp major truths, professionally and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Starting Out

Growing up in New England, the star began developing and showcasing comedy while enrolled in acting at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”

She took matters into her own hands, performing at amateur nights with Ayo and posting uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre comedy videos digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women intensely obsessed with pregnancy; another imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her path, she notes, has been peers offering opportunities, instead of the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, continuing humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”

Rising Success

Those who had doubts about her previously will certainly be feeling foolish today. Through she labels a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she appears to manifested an ideal role. Previously she posted a clip titled about Los Angeles online, in which she mocked film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers managing advantages of digital stardom (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled thief, and possibly becoming a unreliable pariah). One might easy to produce a program about internet celebrity that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at the characters. This show steers clear of each, making for a depiction of affluent twentysomething existence that’s honest about the chaos and the glamour.

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