Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and at once starts an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, seeming truly remorseful. Despite being 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!” Fortunately, during an interview, that’s just what is ideal to experience. Besides, it’s pretty unsurprising. Those who have seen her fearlessly openly gay and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—which she penned with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside close companion Ayo Edebiri—will understand that she has plenty to share, be it on identity, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a high-school fight club. Furthermore, after watching the new multi-episode HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she has additional thoughts about the challenges of young adulthood (At 30, she is an honorary member of the gang, on the cusp with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges enthusiastic, citing it alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which tracks the travails of online personality Tallulah and close companion who is also fledgling representative Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the largest influence on creative vision went to the HBO series, that program depicting an emerging celebrity succeeding in a gritty LA scene (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She started watching it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and decided to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“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 emerged—to some extent—from firsthand, originally rocky, transition to LA and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed occurrence for astrology heads. This represented a phase that saw her understand significant truths, work-wise and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott commenced developing and showcasing stand-up while enrolled in acting at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” 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, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and sharing hilarious (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos online. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on several females obsessively fixated on having babies; a different one envisioned working at the brand Hollister as like being trapped in a thriller. Interestingly, she met Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a Jewish wake with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her path, she notes, has been peers giving her a shot, rather than traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who were skeptical about Sennott earlier will certainly be kicking themselves now. In what she calls a “astonishingly complete” development, she has manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she shared content titled “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a show about LA residents managing the perks of online celebrity (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your associate being suspected of being a substance-abusing thief, and potentially becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be simple to make a show about online fame that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at those depicted. This show steers clear of each, making for a portrait of privileged millennial living that’s honest about the mess and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she observes. “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
