Rachel Sennott joins the online meeting and right away starts an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, sounding really apologetic. She is only a bit delayed, she feels compelled to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s exactly what is ideal to hear. Additionally, it’s pretty unsurprising. Anyone familiar with the boldly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—which she co-wrote with the director and appeared in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that Sennott possesses a lot to say, ranging from about identity, sex, or the merits of creating a youth brawl society. Plus, by the end the latest eight-part show I Love LA, it is clear that she holds additional thoughts about the darker side of Gen Z life (At 30, she is a bridge for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Parallels to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being a fan, naming it together with Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as influences for her series, which details the journey of online personality Tallulah and her friend who is also fledgling talent manager Maia. However, the most significant spot on concept went to Entourage, that HBO sitcom depicting an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it throughout lockdown, became “captivated”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The inspiration for this project originated—in part—from firsthand, at first rocky, transition to LA and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed occurrence for followers. It was a time that saw her learn significant life lessons, professionally and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in New England, Sennott commenced writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” 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. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at amateur nights with her friend and posting hilarious (and decidedly) weird online content on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women intensely fixated on having babies; a different one portrayed working at the brand Hollister as akin to being trapped in a scary movie. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her path, she explains, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who had doubts regarding Sennott earlier will surely be feeling foolish currently. In what she labels a “incredibly circular” story, she has created her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded content named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a comedy about city dwellers juggling advantages of internet fame (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being labeled as being a intoxicated criminal, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). It would be easy to make a program about digital influence that was overly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at the characters. This show avoids both, making for a depiction of privileged millennial existence that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.
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
