Rachel Sennott exploring her side-splitting series portraying that messy glamour of today's youth existence

The performer joins the digital interview and immediately starts an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing truly apologetic. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s precisely what is ideal to hear. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Anyone who know her unapologetically openly gay and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—which she co-wrote with the director and starred in alongside collaborator The Bear’s standout—would already know that Sennott has plenty to discuss, ranging from about gender, sex, or the appeal of forming a teen brawl society. And, once you finish her new seasonal HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds additional thoughts regarding the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott is a relatable figure of the gang, straddling eras adept for straddling both generations).

Inspirations and Creative Vision

Parallels to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott is a fan, citing the show together with the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for her series, which follows the travails of a social media star Tallulah and her friend and fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the largest influence on the moodboard went to Entourage, that program depicting an emerging Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy entertainment industry (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it throughout COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and resolved to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The idea for this project originated—partly—from firsthand, initially rocky, relocation to LA and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed occurrence for followers. It was an era that involved her learn significant insights, professionally and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Early Beginnings

Raised in Connecticut, Sennott commenced writing and performing stand-up while studying theatre at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “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. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

She took matters into her own hands, performing at open mics with Ayo and posting hilarious (and decidedly) bizarre comedy videos on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women intensely fixated on having babies; a different one portrayed being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being trapped in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a religious event with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her journey, she notes, has been peers offering opportunities, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, stating humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Career Breakthrough

Anyone who were skeptical about her earlier will likely be regretting it today. In what she labels a “incredibly circular” development, she seems to have achieved the perfect project. In 2019 she uploaded a clip named about Los Angeles on social media, in which she mocked movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a comedy about LA residents juggling the perks of online celebrity (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). Some could easy to make a program about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at those depicted. This show does neither, resulting in a portrait of privileged twentysomething life that’s frank about the mess 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 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

Tanner Cunningham
Tanner Cunningham

A seasoned gambling analyst with over a decade of experience covering UK online casinos and slot game trends.