Rachel Sennott joins the video call and immediately starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, seeming really remorseful. Despite being only slightly behind, she needs to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is precisely what is ideal to experience. Besides, it’s fairly predictable. Anyone familiar with her boldly openly gay and brash project Bottoms—that she penned with her creative partner and featured in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—will be aware that Sennott possesses much to share, ranging from about identity, sex, or the appeal of forming a teen combat group. And, once you finish her latest seasonal program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star carries even more perspectives on the challenges of modern youth (As a millennial, she serves as a bridge for this generation, a tale-end millennial adept for bridging both generations).
Influences and Creative Vision
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress admits to being an admirer, referencing it together with the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as influences for I Love LA, which follows the struggles of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and new agent Maia. Notably, the largest spot on concept was reserved for the popular sitcom, that program depicting an emerging Hollywood star navigating in a corrupt entertainment industry (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it throughout lockdown, became “hooked”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The idea for the series came—to some extent—from her own, at first fractious, transition to LA and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed phenomenon for enthusiasts. It was a time that included her learn major life lessons, professionally and personally. “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. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Growing up in the East Coast, the star began creating and acting humor while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “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 took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at amateur nights with Ayo and posting hilarious (and decidedly) weird online content digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women fetishistically fixated on pregnancy; another imagined being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a thriller. By chance, she connected with Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a religious event with hints of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her career, she notes, has been people her own age giving her a shot, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Anyone who were skeptical about Sennott previously will likely be kicking themselves currently. In what she labels a “incredibly circular” story, she has manifested an ideal role. Previously she shared a clip titled about Los Angeles on social media, in which she parodied movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a series about LA residents balancing benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a substance-abusing stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be tempting to produce a series about online fame that was overly aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at its subjects. The series avoids both, creating a representation of privileged millennial living that’s frank about the grot and the appeal.
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 says. “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
