Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and right away starts an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming truly regretful. She is only slightly delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, during an interview, that’s precisely what you want to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty predictable. Viewers who know her fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—that Sennott penned with the director and featured in with her friend The Bear’s standout—would be aware that she has a lot to share, ranging from about gender, relationships, or the pros of forming a teen combat group. And, after watching the recent eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds further thoughts regarding the struggles of modern youth (Now in her thirties, she represents a bridge for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, referencing the show in addition to the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as guides for the project, which tracks the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also fledgling talent manager Maia. Perhaps, the largest influence on concept went to Entourage, the program depicting an up-and-coming A-list actor succeeding in a corrupt Hollywood (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She began viewing it amid the pandemic, became “hooked”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The concept for this project came—in part—from firsthand, originally fractious, relocation to LA and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about event for enthusiasts. That period marked an era that involved her learn major life lessons, in her career and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott commenced developing and showcasing comedy while pursuing performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “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 decided to act independently, appearing at open mics with Edebiri and uploading hilarious (and distinctly) bizarre online content on the internet. One, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women intensely obsessed with having babies; another imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being stuck in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually starring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her journey, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, instead of the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, adding humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Those who questioned about Sennott then will certainly be regretting it now. Through she labels a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she seems to have created the perfect project. In 2019 she shared content called about Los Angeles on social media, in which she mocked film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a series about LA residents managing the perks of internet fame (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and perhaps becoming a risky pariah). Some could simple to produce a series about digital influence that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that mocked at its subjects. The series does neither, creating a depiction of privileged young adult existence that’s frank about the grot and the appeal.
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 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
