Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and immediately begins an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming truly apologetic. Although she's only a bit behind, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s exactly what you want to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty predictable. Anyone who have seen her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and brash film titled Bottoms—which she co-wrote with her creative partner and appeared in together with close companion The Bear’s standout—can already know that Sennott possesses a lot to discuss, whether about identity, sex, or the merits of forming a high-school brawl society. Plus, by the end her latest seasonal show titled I Love LA, it is clear that she holds additional perspectives regarding the challenges of modern youth (At 30, Sennott is an honorary member for this generation, a tale-end millennial adept for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges an admirer, referencing the show alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and the innovative program as guides for the project, which tracks the travails of a social media star Tallulah and her friend who is also fledgling agent portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the largest spot on the moodboard was reserved for Entourage, the HBO sitcom about a rising Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy LA scene (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it amid the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and decided to create a new version 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 explains. The idea for this project emerged—to some extent—from her own, initially difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a popular phenomenon for enthusiasts. It was a phase that saw her understand significant life lessons, in her career and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Brought up in the East Coast, the star commenced writing and performing comedy while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with Ayo and sharing hysterical (and very) bizarre comedy videos online. One, titled Baby Cult, followed characters obsessively drawn to having babies; a different one portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being caught in a horror film. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a religious event with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her path, she notes, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Individuals who were skeptical regarding Sennott previously will likely be regretting it now. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she has achieved the perfect project. Previously she uploaded content called about Los Angeles online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a show about Angelenos balancing the perks of digital stardom (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being accused of being a drug-addled thief, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). One might easy to make a series about internet celebrity that was horribly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. The series does neither, making for a representation of privileged millennial existence that’s candid about the mess and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“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
