Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and immediately begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely remorseful. Although she's only a couple of minutes late, she wants 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, in this context, this is exactly what you want to hear. Besides, it’s fairly expected. Anyone familiar with the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with the director and appeared in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—will already know that Sennott possesses plenty to share, be it about identity, relationships, or the merits of creating a high-school fight club. Furthermore, once you finish the latest seasonal show titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries additional insights regarding the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she serves as a bridge for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting both generations).
Influences and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress is enthusiastic, naming the show together with the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as inspirations for the project, which tracks the struggles of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and fledgling representative Sennott’s character. However, the biggest spot on creative vision went to Entourage, that HBO sitcom depicting a rising Hollywood star succeeding in a corrupt entertainment industry (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The idea for the series came—to some extent—from her own, originally rocky, relocation to LA and from her astrological phase, a popular event for followers. That period marked a phase that included her grasp major truths, professionally and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “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
Raised in Connecticut, the star commenced creating and acting stand-up while studying theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She seized control, appearing at amateur nights with Ayo and sharing hilarious (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically drawn to motherhood; a different one portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being trapped in a scary movie. By chance, she connected with Seligman through campus film circles and ended up appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her career, she says, has been contemporaries supporting her, instead of established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, adding amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who were skeptical regarding Sennott then will certainly be kicking themselves today. As part of she calls a “astonishingly complete” story, she appears to achieved the perfect project. In 2019 she shared a video titled on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a comedy about Angelenos managing advantages of internet fame (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and potentially becoming a risky pariah). One might tempting to make a program about digital influence that was overly idealized—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. The series does neither, creating a depiction of privileged young adult existence that’s candid about the chaos and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” she says. “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
