🔗 Share this article Rachel Sennott on her side-splitting comedy portraying that grotty glamour of today's youth lifestyle The performer joins the digital interview and immediately starts an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming truly apologetic. Although she's only a couple of minutes late, she needs 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!” Thankfully, during an interview, that’s precisely what you want to encounter. Besides, it’s quite unsurprising. Viewers who have seen her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and brash movie Bottoms—which she penned with Emma Seligman and appeared in with close companion the talented actress—would understand that she possesses plenty to say, be it about roles, relationships, or the appeal of starting a teen brawl society. Furthermore, once you finish her latest eight-part show titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she has even more insights regarding the darker side of modern youth (As a millennial, Sennott serves as a bridge to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for straddling millennials and Gen Z). Influences and Storytelling Approach The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott is an admirer, referencing it in addition to Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as influences for the project, which follows the struggles of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also aspiring representative Sennott’s character. Notably, the most significant influence on the moodboard belonged to Entourage, the HBO sitcom about an up-and-coming A-list actor navigating in a gritty LA scene (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott began viewing it throughout COVID-19, became “hooked”, and decided to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”. “I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The concept for I Love LA emerged—in part—from her own, initially fractious, relocation to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about occurrence for enthusiasts. This represented a time that included her learn some big truths, professionally and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…” Starting Out Growing up in Connecticut, the star started developing and showcasing humor while enrolled in acting at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.” She decided to act independently, appearing at amateur nights with Edebiri and sharing hilarious (and very) weird skits on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on several females fetishistically drawn to having babies; a different one portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being caught in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through campus film circles and eventually appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she says, has been contemporaries supporting her, rather than established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.” Rising Success Those who had doubts about her earlier will certainly be regretting it today. As part of she describes as a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she has created an ideal role. A few years back she posted a video called about Los Angeles on social media, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about Angelenos balancing advantages of internet fame (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing thief, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). One might simple to produce a program about online fame that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that mocked at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a portrait of privileged young adult existence that’s honest about the grot and the shine. Balanced Perspective “Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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