Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and right away begins an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing truly regretful. She is only a couple of minutes behind, she needs to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, in this context, that’s exactly what is ideal to encounter. Moreover, it’s pretty predictable. Anyone who have seen the boldly LGBTQ+ and outspoken project Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and featured in with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—can be aware that she holds a lot to discuss, be it about gender, relationships, or the merits of creating a teen fight club. Furthermore, once you finish her new multi-episode program I Love LA, it is clear that she holds additional insights about the darker side of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott is a relatable figure of the gang, straddling eras skilled for straddling both generations).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being a fan, naming the show together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as guides for the project, which follows the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and close companion and new talent manager Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the biggest influence on creative vision belonged to the popular sitcom, that show focusing on a rising A-list actor making his way in a gritty entertainment industry (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott started watching it throughout COVID-19, 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 says. The idea for this project came—in part—from firsthand, at first difficult, relocation to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. It was an era that saw her learn major life lessons, work-wise and individually. “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.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Growing up in New England, Sennott began creating and acting comedy while studying acting at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She decided to act independently, appearing at live shows with Ayo and sharing hilarious (and very) unconventional online content online. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on several females fetishistically drawn to motherhood; another portrayed working at the brand Hollister as like being stuck in a scary movie. By chance, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a religious event with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her journey, she says, has been peers giving her a shot, instead of the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, continuing amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who were skeptical regarding her earlier will likely be feeling foolish now. As part of she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she appears to achieved the perfect project. In 2019 she posted a clip named “it’s LA” online, in which she parodied film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about Angelenos juggling advantages of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your associate being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be tempting to create a series about digital influence that was horribly idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. The series avoids both, making for a portrait of privileged millennial living that’s honest about the grot and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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