Rachel Sennott discussing her side-splitting show about the chaotic appeal of Gen Z life
The star joins the video call and right away begins an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, seeming really remorseful. Despite being only a bit delayed, she needs to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s precisely what you want to encounter. Moreover, it’s pretty expected. Viewers who know her fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—which Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and appeared in with close companion the talented actress—can understand that Sennott possesses a lot to share, whether on gender, relationships, or the appeal of forming a teen fight club. And, by the end her recent seasonal show titled I Love LA, it is clear that she carries further perspectives about the struggles of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she is a bridge to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott readily acknowledges enthusiastic, citing it together with the classic series, Insecure and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which tracks the travails of a social media star Tallulah and ally who is also aspiring talent manager Sennott’s character. Notably, the most significant spot on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, that show about an emerging A-list actor succeeding in an often-seedy entertainment industry (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it during COVID-19, became “captivated”, and chose to put her own twist 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 says. The idea for this project emerged—in part—from her own, originally difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a popular phenomenon for astrology heads. It was an era that saw her understand some big truths, in her career and personally. “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…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in New England, Sennott started writing and performing stand-up while studying performance at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “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 took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at live shows with Edebiri and sharing hysterical (and very) bizarre comedy videos digitally. One, Baby Cult, depicted several females fetishistically drawn to having babies; another portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she met Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her career, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, rather than traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, adding humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who had doubts about Sennott earlier will likely be feeling foolish currently. Through she labels a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she has created her dream vehicle. Previously she posted content named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about city dwellers balancing advantages of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being accused of being a intoxicated criminal, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). One might simple to create a program about internet celebrity that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a portrait of privileged young adult existence that’s honest about the grot 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 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