Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and immediately launches into an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, seeming truly regretful. Despite being only slightly late, she feels compelled to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, in this context, that’s exactly what one hopes to encounter. Besides, it’s quite expected. Anyone who know the boldly openly gay and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and starred in with her friend the talented actress—would already know that Sennott possesses much to say, ranging from about identity, relationships, or the merits of forming a youth brawl society. And, after watching the recent eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds even more insights regarding the struggles of Gen Z life (At 30, she serves as an honorary member for this generation, a tale-end millennial skilled for bridging different age groups).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott is enthusiastic, citing the show in addition to Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for the project, which tracks the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and new representative portrayed by Sennott. However, the most significant spot on the moodboard was reserved for Entourage, the show depicting an emerging A-list actor making his way in a gritty LA scene (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it amid 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 concept for the series came—to some extent—from her own, at first rocky, relocation to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed event for followers. This represented a time that saw her understand significant truths, work-wise and individually. “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 resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Brought up in the East Coast, the star commenced writing and performing humor while studying performance 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?”
Sennott decided to act independently, performing at amateur nights with Edebiri and posting hilarious (and decidedly) bizarre online content digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on several females fetishistically fixated on pregnancy; another envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a thriller. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a religious event with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, instead of traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, stating amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who were skeptical about her previously will surely be feeling foolish currently. Through she labels a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she appears to manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she posted a clip named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a comedy about Angelenos managing advantages of internet fame (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being labeled as being a substance-abusing thief, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). It would be easy to produce a series about internet celebrity that was horribly idealized—or, more problematic, one that punched down at those depicted. This show steers clear of each, making for a portrait of affluent young adult life that’s frank about the grot and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
