Rachel Sennott joins the video call and right away begins an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, sounding really regretful. She is only a bit behind, she feels compelled to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, during an interview, this is just what is ideal to hear. Additionally, it’s quite expected. Those who have seen her fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—that she penned with the director and appeared in together with her friend Ayo Edebiri—can understand that she possesses a lot to say, ranging from on roles, sex, or the appeal of forming a youth fight club. Furthermore, by the end the recent seasonal program I Love LA, viewers realize that she carries additional insights on the darker side of modern youth (Now in her thirties, she represents an honorary member for this generation, on the cusp adept for connecting both generations).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, referencing it together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as influences for I Love LA, which details the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and ally and new talent manager Maia. Perhaps, the biggest presence on creative vision belonged to the popular sitcom, that show depicting an emerging Hollywood star making his way in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it amid COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist 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 says. The idea for this project emerged—to some extent—from her own, initially difficult, transition to LA and from her cosmic event, a popular event for enthusiasts. It was a time that included her understand some big insights, in her career and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “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 New England, the star commenced writing and performing comedy while studying theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at amateur nights with Ayo and posting uproarious (and very) bizarre comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on several females intensely drawn to having babies; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being trapped in a horror film. By chance, she connected with Seligman through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her career, she explains, has been people her own age giving her a shot, instead of established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, stating amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who were skeptical regarding Sennott previously will certainly be feeling foolish now. As part of she calls a “astonishingly complete” development, she has achieved the perfect project. Previously she shared a video named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a show about LA residents balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being accused of being a substance-abusing thief, and potentially becoming a unreliable persona non grata). It would be easy to create a series about digital influence that was overly glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at its subjects. This show steers clear of each, creating a representation of affluent twentysomething existence that’s candid about the mess and the appeal.
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 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
