Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and right away launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, sounding really remorseful. She is only slightly behind, she wants to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, in this context, that’s just what is ideal to experience. Besides, it’s pretty expected. Viewers who have seen the unapologetically openly gay and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and starred in with her friend The Bear’s standout—will already know that she has much to share, ranging from about gender, sex, or the merits of starting a high-school brawl society. Furthermore, once you finish the new multi-episode program I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds additional insights regarding the challenges of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she is a bridge for this generation, straddling eras adept for straddling both generations).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott is an admirer, referencing it alongside Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as inspirations for her series, which tracks the journey of online personality Tallulah and close companion and aspiring agent portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the biggest spot on the moodboard went to Entourage, the HBO sitcom about an emerging celebrity navigating in a corrupt LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott began viewing it during the pandemic, became “hooked”, and chose to create a new version 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 explains. The concept for I Love LA emerged—in part—from her own, at first fractious, transition to LA and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for enthusiasts. It was a phase that saw her grasp major truths, in her career and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Brought up in New England, Sennott commenced creating and acting humor while studying acting at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “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, appearing at open mics with Edebiri and posting hilarious (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted characters obsessively drawn to pregnancy; a different one envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a scary movie. By chance, she met Emma through NYU’s movie community and ultimately featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her career, she explains, has been peers offering opportunities, instead of traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, continuing amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Individuals who questioned regarding Sennott then will certainly be regretting it now. Through she labels a “astonishingly complete” story, she has created an ideal role. Previously she uploaded a clip titled about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she mocked film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a series about Angelenos balancing advantages of online celebrity (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being labeled as being a intoxicated criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). Some could simple to produce a program about online fame that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that mocked at those depicted. I Love LA avoids both, making for a portrait of privileged young adult life that’s candid about the grot and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
