Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and right away launches into an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, seeming truly remorseful. Despite being only a bit delayed, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is exactly what you want to experience. Additionally, it’s quite predictable. Viewers who have seen her boldly queer and brash project titled Bottoms—that she penned with Emma Seligman and starred in with close companion The Bear’s standout—can understand that she has plenty to discuss, ranging from about roles, relationships, or the merits of creating a high-school fight club. Furthermore, after watching the recent eight-part show I Love LA, it is clear that she holds even more insights about the challenges of modern youth (As a millennial, she represents an honorary member of the gang, a tale-end millennial skilled for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, citing the show in addition to the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as influences for the project, which details the journey of an influencer Tallulah and close companion who is also aspiring agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest influence on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, that HBO sitcom focusing on an emerging Hollywood star making his way in a corrupt entertainment industry (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it amid the pandemic, became “hooked”, and chose to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The inspiration for I Love LA came—in part—from personal, originally rocky, relocation to LA and from the cosmic event, a popular event for followers. That period marked an era that involved her grasp some big insights, in her career and personally. “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 resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Brought up in New England, Sennott started developing and showcasing stand-up while studying theatre 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. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She decided to act independently, performing at amateur nights with Ayo and sharing hilarious (and very) weird skits digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted characters fetishistically fixated on having babies; a different one envisioned working at the brand Hollister as similar to being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her path, she says, has been peers giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who questioned regarding Sennott previously will likely be regretting it now. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” story, she has manifested an ideal role. A few years back she shared a clip called on LA life on social media, in which she lampooned film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a series about LA residents managing advantages of internet fame (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being labeled as being a substance-abusing stealer, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be tempting to produce a series about online fame that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that punched down at those depicted. The series does neither, making for a depiction of advantaged millennial living that’s frank about the mess and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
