Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and at once launches into an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, appearing truly apologetic. Although she's only a bit delayed, she wants to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is exactly what is ideal to hear. Besides, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone who have seen the boldly queer and outspoken project Bottoms—that she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in alongside close companion Ayo Edebiri—would already know that she holds much to discuss, be it on roles, sex, or the pros of forming a teen fight club. Furthermore, by the end the latest seasonal program titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she carries additional thoughts on the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott serves as a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp with a knack for straddling both generations).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, referencing it together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for her series, which details the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also aspiring representative portrayed by Sennott. However, the biggest influence on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, the program depicting an up-and-coming celebrity making his way in an often-seedy LA scene (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it amid COVID-19, became “captivated”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The concept for the series emerged—to some extent—from her own, at first difficult, transition to LA and from the astrological phase, a popular occurrence for followers. This represented a phase that involved her grasp some big insights, work-wise 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 …”
Early Beginnings
Raised in New England, the star commenced writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in performance at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott decided to act independently, performing at live shows with Edebiri and sharing hysterical (and very) weird skits on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed several females intensely fixated on having babies; a different one envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being caught in a thriller. By chance, she met Seligman through campus film circles and ultimately featuring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her path, she explains, has been people her own age supporting her, instead of the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, adding humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who were skeptical regarding her then will surely be regretting it currently. As part of she labels a “wild, full-circle” development, she appears to achieved the perfect project. In 2019 she posted content named about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about LA residents juggling advantages of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being labeled as being a substance-abusing stealer, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). It would be simple to create a series about digital influence that was horribly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at its subjects. The series steers clear of each, resulting in a portrait of affluent millennial existence that’s frank about the grot and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“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
