Rachel Sennott appears on the video call and immediately launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, appearing really apologetic. Despite being only a couple of minutes delayed, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s exactly what is ideal to experience. Besides, it’s pretty unsurprising. Those who know the fearlessly queer and brash film Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and featured in together with collaborator the talented actress—would already know that Sennott has a lot to say, ranging from on identity, relationships, or the appeal of creating a youth brawl society. Plus, once you finish her recent multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that she has additional insights on the darker side of modern youth (As a millennial, she represents a bridge to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott is enthusiastic, citing the show alongside Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which tracks the travails of online personality Tallulah and close companion who is also new agent Sennott’s character. However, the largest spot on concept belonged to the HBO series, the program depicting an up-and-coming Hollywood star navigating in an often-seedy entertainment industry (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it amid the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The concept for this project emerged—to some extent—from firsthand, originally rocky, move to LA and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about event for enthusiasts. That period marked an era that included her understand some big truths, professionally and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “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 …”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in New England, Sennott began creating and acting comedy while enrolled in theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She seized control, taking the stage at amateur nights with her friend and uploading hilarious (and distinctly) bizarre online content on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on characters intensely drawn to pregnancy; another imagined being employed at a trendy retail outlet as like being stuck in a scary movie. By chance, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her career, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, rather than the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she repeats, adding amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who questioned regarding Sennott previously will certainly be feeling foolish now. In what she calls a “wild, full-circle” development, she has manifested an ideal role. In 2019 she uploaded a clip called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a comedy about Angelenos managing benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and potentially becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be easy to create a show about digital influence that was overly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. The series avoids both, making for a depiction of advantaged millennial existence that’s honest about the grot and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
