Rachel Sennott appears on the online meeting and at once begins an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing genuinely apologetic. She is only a bit behind, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, for a writer, this is just what is ideal to experience. Additionally, it’s quite unsurprising. Anyone who know the boldly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—which she penned with Emma Seligman and starred in with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—can understand that Sennott possesses much to say, be it on gender, intimacy, or the appeal of forming a high-school brawl society. And, after watching her latest seasonal show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has even more perspectives on the darker side of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a relatable figure for this generation, on the cusp skilled for connecting both generations).
Influences and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott is a fan, referencing the show alongside the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for her series, which follows the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and aspiring talent manager Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the largest presence on concept went to the HBO series, that program depicting an emerging celebrity navigating in a corrupt Hollywood (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott started watching it throughout the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and decided to put her own twist 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 inspiration for the series came—partly—from firsthand, originally difficult, relocation to LA and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about phenomenon for enthusiasts. This represented a phase that included her learn major life lessons, work-wise and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Growing up in New England, the star started writing and performing stand-up while pursuing performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She decided to act independently, taking the stage at open mics with Edebiri and sharing uproarious (and decidedly) bizarre comedy videos digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on characters fetishistically fixated on pregnancy; a different one imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a scary movie. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually featuring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her career, she says, has been peers offering opportunities, rather than the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, adding with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Individuals who were skeptical regarding Sennott earlier will surely be feeling foolish currently. In what she calls a “astonishingly complete” story, she has manifested the perfect project. Previously she uploaded a video named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a series about city dwellers managing benefits of internet fame (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being accused of being a substance-abusing criminal, and potentially becoming a risky pariah). One might tempting to create a show about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that punched down at those depicted. This show avoids both, making for a portrait of affluent millennial existence that’s frank about the grot and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
