Rachel Sennott appears on the video call and immediately begins an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, appearing genuinely remorseful. Despite being only a bit late, she feels compelled to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, in this context, this is just what is ideal to encounter. Besides, it’s fairly predictable. Anyone familiar with the boldly queer and brash project titled Bottoms—that Sennott penned with the director and appeared in alongside close companion Ayo Edebiri—can understand that she possesses plenty to say, be it about gender, relationships, or the pros of forming a high-school fight club. And, by the end the new eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star has even more insights on the struggles of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she serves as an honorary member to younger audiences, straddling eras with a knack for bridging different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress admits to being a fan, naming it in addition to Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as inspirations for her series, which follows the journey of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also aspiring talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the most significant presence on creative vision belonged to Entourage, the program focusing on a rising Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott started watching it amid the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and resolved to create a new version 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 says. The concept for this project originated—to some extent—from her own, at first fractious, relocation to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed occurrence for enthusiasts. It was an era that included her grasp significant insights, in her career and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Raised in New England, Sennott started creating and acting stand-up while pursuing theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “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.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She seized control, taking the stage at live shows with Ayo and uploading hysterical (and very) unconventional comedy videos online. One, titled Baby Cult, followed characters fetishistically obsessed with pregnancy; a different one imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the intense thriller. The central motif of her career, she notes, has been people her own age giving her a shot, as opposed to traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who were skeptical regarding Sennott previously will surely be kicking themselves now. As part of she describes as a “astonishingly complete” development, she appears to created an ideal role. Previously she uploaded a clip titled on LA life on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a series about Angelenos managing advantages of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your associate being labeled as being a drug-addled criminal, and possibly becoming a risky outcast). One might simple to make a show about internet celebrity that was horribly idealized—or, more problematic, one that punched down at its subjects. The series steers clear of each, resulting in a representation of advantaged twentysomething existence that’s frank about the chaos and the shine.
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 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
