Rachel Sennott discussing the side-splitting comedy portraying the messy allure of younger generation life
The star appears on the digital interview and immediately launches into an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, sounding really regretful. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, during an interview, that’s just what one hopes to encounter. Moreover, it’s quite predictable. Those who know the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—which she penned with Emma Seligman and featured in with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—will already know that Sennott holds plenty to share, ranging from about identity, relationships, or the appeal of starting a teen fight club. And, after watching her recent seasonal program titled I Love LA, it is clear that she carries even more perspectives on the struggles of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as an honorary member for this generation, a tale-end millennial skilled for bridging different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges enthusiastic, naming the show together with Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as inspirations for the project, which follows the journey of an influencer Tallulah and ally who is also fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the largest spot on the moodboard went to the popular sitcom, the HBO sitcom about an up-and-coming celebrity navigating in an often-seedy LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The inspiration for I Love LA emerged—partly—from her own, originally fractious, move to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. It was a phase that involved her understand major life lessons, work-wise and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott commenced developing and showcasing comedy while pursuing theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She seized control, appearing at amateur nights with Ayo and sharing hilarious (and distinctly) bizarre comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically fixated on motherhood; a different one portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as like being trapped in a scary movie. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually featuring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her journey, she says, has been people her own age supporting her, instead of the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, adding with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who questioned regarding Sennott earlier will surely be kicking themselves today. As part of she describes as a “astonishingly complete” development, she seems to have created the perfect project. A few years back she uploaded content titled about Los Angeles on social media, in which she mocked film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a series about LA residents balancing benefits of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your client being labeled as being a intoxicated stealer, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). It would be tempting to produce a show about online fame that was extremely glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at those depicted. This show steers clear of each, creating a portrait of advantaged millennial life that’s candid about the chaos and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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