Rachel Sennott exploring the side-splitting series about the grotty allure of today's youth life

The performer enters the digital interview and right away launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing really apologetic. She is only slightly behind, she feels compelled to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is just what is ideal to experience. Besides, it’s pretty unsurprising. Viewers who have seen the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and brash project Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside her friend The Bear’s standout—would be aware that she holds a lot to share, whether on identity, relationships, or the merits of starting a youth brawl society. Furthermore, after watching her recent eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds further perspectives about the struggles of Gen Z life (At 30, she serves as an honorary member to younger audiences, straddling eras with a knack for connecting different age groups).

Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach

Likenesses to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott is enthusiastic, naming it alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which tracks the journey of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also new talent manager Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the most significant presence on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, that HBO sitcom depicting an emerging celebrity navigating in a corrupt entertainment industry (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it during COVID-19, became “captivated”, and decided 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—in part—from her own, originally fractious, move to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a popular phenomenon for followers. It was a time that saw her grasp significant life lessons, professionally and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “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 the East Coast, the star started writing and performing humor while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. 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.”

Sennott seized control, taking the stage at live shows with Ayo and uploading hilarious (and very) bizarre skits on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively obsessed with having babies; another envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being caught in a scary movie. By chance, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually featuring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her journey, she notes, has been peers supporting her, as opposed to the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, stating amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Career Breakthrough

Individuals who were skeptical regarding her earlier will likely be feeling foolish currently. Through she describes as a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she appears to manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she shared a clip named “it’s LA” online, in which she parodied film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a show about city dwellers managing benefits of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a substance-abusing stealer, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). It would be easy to make a program about online fame that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, creating a portrait of privileged young adult life that’s candid about the grot and the glamour.

Balanced Perspective

“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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

Joe Bishop
Joe Bishop

A certified nutritionist and wellness coach with over a decade of experience, passionate about holistic health and sustainable living practices.