The actress and writer on the uproarious show portraying that grotty allure of younger generation life
Rachel Sennott enters the video call and right away starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, appearing truly remorseful. Although she's only a couple of minutes behind, she wants to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is just what is ideal to hear. Moreover, it’s quite unsurprising. Those who know her fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—that Sennott penned with the director and starred in alongside collaborator the talented actress—would be aware that Sennott has a lot to say, whether on roles, sex, or the appeal of creating a teen combat group. Furthermore, by the end the recent multi-episode show titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds additional insights about the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, she serves as an honorary member of the gang, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling both generations).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being a fan, citing the show together with the HBO hit, Insecure and the innovative program as influences for the project, which follows the journey of online personality Tallulah and her friend who is also aspiring representative Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest influence on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, the HBO sitcom about a rising Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty entertainment industry (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it during the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The inspiration for this project originated—partly—from her own, initially rocky, transition to LA and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about event for enthusiasts. This represented a time that involved her grasp major truths, in her career and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in Connecticut, the star started writing and performing comedy while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at open mics with Edebiri and posting uproarious (and decidedly) weird comedy videos on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women intensely drawn to having babies; a different one imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being stuck in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually featuring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her career, she notes, has been peers giving her a shot, instead of the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, stating amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who were skeptical about her then will certainly be feeling foolish today. Through she calls a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she seems to have created an ideal role. A few years back she uploaded a video called about Los Angeles on social media, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a show about LA residents managing advantages of digital stardom (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled thief, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). One might tempting to create a program about digital influence that was extremely glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at those depicted. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a portrait of affluent twentysomething living that’s candid about the grot and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
