Rachel Sennott enters the video call and right away begins an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming truly apologetic. Despite being only a bit behind, she wants to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s just what you want to hear. Additionally, it’s fairly predictable. Anyone who have seen the boldly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—that she collaborated on with the director and starred in with close companion Ayo Edebiri—will be aware that Sennott possesses a lot to discuss, whether on roles, intimacy, or the merits of creating a teen combat group. Furthermore, by the end the new multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star carries further perspectives on the darker side of modern youth (As a millennial, she represents an honorary member for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for connecting different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, citing the show in addition to the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for the project, which details the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also new talent manager Maia. Notably, the most significant influence on concept belonged to the popular sitcom, that program depicting an emerging A-list actor making his way in a corrupt entertainment industry (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it during lockdown, became “obsessed”, and decided to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“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 came—partly—from her own, originally fractious, move to LA and from her astrological phase, a popular occurrence for followers. It was a phase that included her learn some big truths, professionally and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott began creating and acting comedy while pursuing theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at live shows with Ayo and uploading uproarious (and very) unconventional skits on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; a different one portrayed being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being caught in a scary movie. Interestingly, she met Seligman through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her path, she says, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, instead of traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, adding amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Anyone who questioned about her previously will surely be kicking themselves currently. As part of she describes as a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have achieved the perfect project. In 2019 she shared a clip titled about Los Angeles on social media, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a comedy about Angelenos balancing the perks of digital stardom (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being accused of being a substance-abusing thief, and possibly becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be tempting to create a show about digital influence that was overly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at its subjects. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a representation of advantaged millennial living that’s candid about the chaos and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“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
