Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and at once launches into an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, sounding really apologetic. She is only a bit behind, she wants to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, during an interview, that’s precisely what you want to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty predictable. Those who know the boldly queer and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—that she collaborated on with her creative partner and featured in together with collaborator The Bear’s standout—would understand that Sennott holds much to discuss, ranging from on gender, sex, or the pros of creating a teen combat group. Plus, by the end her new eight-part show titled I Love LA, it is clear that she has even more perspectives about the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she is a bridge to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for bridging different age groups).
Influences and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress is a fan, citing it alongside the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for the project, which follows the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and fledgling talent manager Sennott’s character. However, the largest spot on the moodboard was reserved for the HBO series, the show focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy LA scene (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it throughout lockdown, became “hooked”, and resolved to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The inspiration for the series originated—in part—from personal, initially difficult, relocation to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about phenomenon for enthusiasts. It was a time that saw her learn major insights, in her career and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” 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…”
Early Beginnings
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott began creating and acting humor while studying theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at live shows with Edebiri and sharing hilarious (and decidedly) bizarre skits on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted characters fetishistically fixated on pregnancy; a different one imagined being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being caught in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a religious event with shades of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her path, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, rather than traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, continuing humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who questioned about her previously will surely be kicking themselves now. In what she describes as a “astonishingly complete” story, she has created the perfect project. In 2019 she posted content named about Los Angeles on social media, in which she mocked film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a comedy about Angelenos managing advantages of digital stardom (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and potentially becoming a risky persona non grata). It would be tempting to make a series about internet celebrity that was overly aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at those depicted. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a depiction of advantaged millennial life that’s frank about the grot and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” she says. “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
