Rachel Sennott joins the online meeting and immediately launches into an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, seeming truly remorseful. Despite being only a bit behind, she feels compelled to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is just what you want to experience. Besides, it’s quite predictable. Viewers who know her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—which she collaborated on with her creative partner and appeared in with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that Sennott possesses a lot to discuss, be it about identity, intimacy, or the merits of forming a high-school combat group. Plus, once you finish her latest eight-part show I Love LA, viewers realize that the star holds further perspectives on the struggles of modern youth (As a millennial, she serves as a relatable figure of the gang, straddling eras adept for straddling different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, referencing the show alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for the project, which details the journey of an influencer Tallulah and close companion who is also fledgling representative Maia. However, the most significant influence on creative vision belonged to the HBO series, that program focusing on an emerging Hollywood star navigating in an often-seedy Hollywood (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it during the pandemic, became “hooked”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The concept for this project originated—partly—from personal, initially rocky, move to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about event for followers. That period marked a phase that saw her learn some big life lessons, professionally and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Brought up in New England, Sennott started creating and acting comedy while studying performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She took matters into her own hands, performing at open mics with her friend and uploading uproarious (and decidedly) bizarre skits on the internet. One, Baby Cult, centered on characters intensely obsessed with having babies; a different one envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her career, she notes, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, rather than established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, adding humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who had doubts about Sennott previously will certainly be regretting it today. As part of she describes as a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she appears to manifested an ideal role. A few years back she shared a video called “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about city dwellers juggling benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and potentially becoming a risky pariah). Some could simple to make a program about online fame that was extremely idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at the characters. The series does neither, resulting in a portrait of privileged millennial life that’s candid about the chaos and the appeal.
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 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
