Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and immediately starts an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, appearing genuinely apologetic. Although she's only slightly behind, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, for a writer, this is exactly what is ideal to hear. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Anyone familiar with her unapologetically openly gay and brash film titled Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and appeared in with close companion the talented actress—would already know that she holds much to share, ranging from on gender, intimacy, or the pros of starting a youth fight club. Furthermore, once you finish the recent seasonal show titled I Love LA, it is clear that she holds further insights regarding the darker side of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she represents an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp with a knack for straddling both generations).
Influences and Creative Vision
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress admits to being a fan, naming the show alongside Sex and the City, Insecure and the innovative program as influences for I Love LA, which follows the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also aspiring agent Maia. Notably, the largest spot on concept belonged to Entourage, the HBO sitcom focusing on an up-and-coming celebrity succeeding in a gritty entertainment industry (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it amid lockdown, became “hooked”, and decided 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 explains. The inspiration for this project originated—partly—from firsthand, initially difficult, relocation to LA and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about occurrence for astrology heads. It was a time that involved her learn major insights, in her career and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Growing up in Connecticut, the star started developing and showcasing comedy while studying theatre at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott seized control, appearing at open mics with Edebiri and posting uproarious (and decidedly) bizarre skits on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females fetishistically obsessed with having babies; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being caught in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through campus film circles and eventually appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. The big theme of her career, she explains, has been contemporaries supporting her, instead of established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who questioned regarding Sennott earlier will certainly be regretting it currently. Through she describes as a “incredibly circular” story, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. A few years back she shared a clip called on LA life on social media, in which she lampooned film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a show about city dwellers balancing advantages of digital stardom (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being suspected of being a substance-abusing criminal, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be easy to create a show about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at its subjects. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a depiction of privileged millennial life that’s frank about the mess and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
