Rachel Sennott joins the video call and immediately launches into an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing truly apologetic. Although she's only a bit behind, she feels compelled to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” 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 encounter. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone who have seen the boldly queer and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and appeared in together with collaborator The Bear’s standout—can understand that Sennott possesses a lot to say, whether on gender, intimacy, or the pros of starting a teen brawl society. Plus, once you finish the recent eight-part show I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has further insights on the darker side of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she serves as a bridge of the gang, on the cusp skilled for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being a fan, citing the show together with the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and her friend and new talent manager Maia. However, the biggest spot on the moodboard was reserved for the HBO series, that program about an up-and-coming celebrity succeeding in a corrupt LA scene (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She started watching it during lockdown, became “hooked”, and decided 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 concept for this project came—to some extent—from firsthand, initially rocky, move to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for astrology heads. It was an era that included her grasp some big insights, work-wise and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott began creating and acting stand-up while pursuing theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott seized control, performing at amateur nights with her friend and posting hysterical (and decidedly) unconventional skits on the internet. One, Baby Cult, depicted characters fetishistically obsessed with pregnancy; another portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as akin to being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her career, she says, has been peers offering opportunities, instead of the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she repeats, stating amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who had doubts about her then will certainly be regretting it today. As part of she calls a “wild, full-circle” development, she appears to created her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded a video titled about Los Angeles online, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a series about LA residents balancing the perks of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a unreliable pariah). Some could tempting to produce a program about digital influence that was horribly glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at its subjects. This show avoids both, creating a depiction of advantaged twentysomething life that’s honest about the chaos and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“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
