Rachel Sennott appears on the digital interview and right away starts an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, appearing genuinely apologetic. Despite being only a bit behind, she needs to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s exactly what is ideal to encounter. Additionally, it’s quite unsurprising. Viewers who know the fearlessly openly gay and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would understand that Sennott holds much to discuss, be it about gender, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a youth brawl society. Plus, once you finish the latest seasonal show I Love LA, it is clear that she has even more thoughts regarding the struggles of modern youth (As a millennial, Sennott represents an honorary member for this generation, on the cusp skilled for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, citing it alongside the classic series, Insecure and Atlanta as guides for I Love LA, which details the journey of a social media star Tallulah and her friend who is also aspiring agent Sennott’s character. However, the largest presence on concept went to the HBO series, the show about an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy entertainment industry (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it throughout lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The idea for the series emerged—partly—from firsthand, at first fractious, transition to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a popular occurrence for astrology heads. It was a time that included her grasp major insights, professionally and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott commenced writing and performing humor while pursuing theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” 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. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She decided to act independently, appearing at live shows with Ayo and sharing hysterical (and distinctly) weird online content on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women intensely drawn to having babies; another portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a scary movie. By chance, she met Emma through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. The central motif of her path, she notes, has been peers supporting her, instead of established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she repeats, adding humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who questioned regarding Sennott earlier will surely be regretting it now. Through she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to created her dream vehicle. A few years back she uploaded content called on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a comedy about LA residents juggling advantages of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). It would be simple to produce a program about online fame that was horribly idealized—or, more problematic, one that mocked at those depicted. This show avoids both, resulting in a representation of advantaged twentysomething existence that’s frank about the grot and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“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
