Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and right away starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing really regretful. Despite being only a couple of minutes delayed, she wants 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!” Luckily, during an interview, this is exactly what one hopes to experience. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Anyone who have seen the unapologetically queer and brash film Bottoms—which she co-wrote with her creative partner and featured in together with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—can understand that she holds plenty to discuss, ranging from about identity, relationships, or the appeal of forming a teen fight club. Plus, after watching her new eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she has even more perspectives on the struggles of Gen Z life (At 30, she serves as a relatable figure of the gang, on the cusp with a knack for bridging both generations).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges enthusiastic, naming it alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as guides for the project, which tracks the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and aspiring representative portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the biggest presence on the moodboard went to the popular sitcom, the HBO sitcom focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in a gritty LA scene (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it amid the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The inspiration for this project originated—in part—from personal, at first rocky, move to Tinseltown and from the saturn return, a much-talked-about event for followers. That period marked an era that involved her understand major truths, professionally and individually. “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. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Raised in New England, the star commenced creating and acting comedy while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at open mics with her friend and uploading hilarious (and distinctly) weird comedy videos digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women obsessively obsessed with motherhood; a different one envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a horror film. By chance, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and ended up featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a religious event with echoes of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her journey, she says, has been people her own age supporting her, rather than traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, continuing amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who had doubts about Sennott previously will surely be regretting it today. As part of she labels a “astonishingly complete” story, she has manifested an ideal role. A few years back she shared a video called about Los Angeles on social media, in which she lampooned film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a series about LA residents managing advantages of online celebrity (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a unreliable outcast). One might tempting to create a show about online fame that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at its subjects. The series does neither, making for a portrait of affluent millennial life that’s honest about the chaos and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
