Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and at once starts an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, appearing really remorseful. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, she wants to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s just what you want to encounter. Additionally, it’s fairly predictable. Anyone who know her boldly LGBTQ+ and outspoken movie Bottoms—that Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and appeared in together with close companion Ayo Edebiri—will understand that she holds a lot to discuss, whether about roles, sex, or the pros of creating a teen combat group. Furthermore, by the end the recent multi-episode show I Love LA, it is clear that she carries additional thoughts regarding the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott is a bridge of the gang, straddling eras with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, naming the show together with the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as guides for her series, which follows the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and her friend and fledgling agent Maia. Notably, the largest presence on concept was reserved for Entourage, that show about an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it amid the pandemic, became “captivated”, and decided to add a fresh perspective 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 explains. The concept for the series emerged—to some extent—from firsthand, initially fractious, move to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed event for astrology heads. This represented an era that saw her understand significant life lessons, in her career 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…”
Early Beginnings
Raised in the East Coast, the star began developing and showcasing comedy while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at amateur nights with her friend and posting hilarious (and very) unconventional comedy videos digitally. One, Baby Cult, depicted several females fetishistically obsessed with having babies; another envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a religious event with shades of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her path, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, instead of established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who were skeptical regarding Sennott previously will likely be regretting it currently. Through she describes as a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she appears to created her dream vehicle. Previously she posted a clip named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she lampooned film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a series about LA residents juggling benefits of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being labeled as being a substance-abusing criminal, and possibly becoming a risky outcast). One might simple to produce a program about digital influence that was horribly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that punched down at those depicted. This show avoids both, making for a depiction of affluent young adult life that’s candid about the chaos and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
