Rachel Sennott joins the online meeting and right away launches into an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, appearing really apologetic. Despite being only a couple of minutes late, she feels compelled to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, during an interview, this is exactly what one hopes to experience. Besides, it’s quite expected. Those who have seen the unapologetically queer and outspoken project Bottoms—which she co-wrote with her creative partner and starred in with close companion The Bear’s standout—will already know that she holds much to say, whether about gender, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a teen brawl society. And, by the end the recent eight-part show I Love LA, viewers realize that she carries even more perspectives about the struggles of modern youth (As a millennial, Sennott serves as a relatable figure to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial adept for connecting both generations).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress is an admirer, naming it in addition to the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for the project, which details the travails of online personality Tallulah and ally who is also fledgling agent Maia. Perhaps, the most significant presence on concept went to the HBO series, that program about an up-and-coming Hollywood star navigating in an often-seedy entertainment industry (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it throughout COVID-19, became “hooked”, 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 says. The inspiration for the series came—in part—from personal, at first difficult, transition to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a popular phenomenon for astrology heads. This represented a phase that included her grasp significant truths, work-wise and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott began developing and showcasing humor while pursuing performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott seized control, performing at amateur nights with Ayo and sharing uproarious (and distinctly) unconventional comedy videos online. One, Baby Cult, depicted characters fetishistically obsessed with having babies; a different one imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a scary movie. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a Jewish wake with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her path, she explains, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, adding humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who had doubts about Sennott previously will certainly be kicking themselves today. As part of she describes as a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she appears to achieved an ideal role. In 2019 she uploaded content called on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a show about Angelenos juggling the perks of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable outcast). Some could simple to make a show about online fame that was horribly glamorous—or, worse, one that belittled at the characters. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a depiction of advantaged millennial living that’s frank about the mess and the glamour.
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
