Rachel Sennott joins the online meeting and right away launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, appearing truly regretful. Although she's only a bit late, she feels compelled to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, in this context, that’s just what is ideal to hear. Additionally, it’s pretty predictable. Those who know her unapologetically openly gay and outspoken project titled Bottoms—that she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in together with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—can already know that she has much to say, ranging from on identity, sex, or the pros of forming a teen brawl society. Furthermore, by the end her recent multi-episode show I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has additional insights on the struggles of modern youth (At 30, Sennott is a relatable figure for this generation, straddling eras adept for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, naming the show alongside the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as influences for I Love LA, which follows the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and aspiring agent portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the biggest influence on creative vision belonged to the popular sitcom, the HBO sitcom focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star navigating in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it throughout lockdown, became “hooked”, and resolved to create a new version 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 says. The concept for this project emerged—to some extent—from her own, at first rocky, relocation to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about phenomenon for followers. This represented an era that included her grasp significant life lessons, work-wise and in private life. “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 …”
Humble Origins
Growing up in Connecticut, the star began writing and performing comedy while studying performance 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. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at amateur nights with Ayo and sharing hilarious (and very) weird online content digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women obsessively drawn to having babies; a different one portrayed working at the brand Hollister as similar to being trapped in a thriller. By chance, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her path, she explains, has been people her own age giving her a shot, rather than established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, stating humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who questioned regarding Sennott then will certainly be kicking themselves currently. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she seems to have created an ideal role. Previously she posted content called on LA life online, in which she mocked movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about Angelenos balancing benefits of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated thief, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). One might simple to make a series about internet celebrity that was overly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at those depicted. The series does neither, resulting in a portrait 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
