Rachel Sennott appears on the online meeting and right away begins an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, sounding really remorseful. Despite being only a couple of minutes delayed, she feels compelled to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is precisely what one hopes to encounter. Besides, it’s quite predictable. Anyone who know the boldly LGBTQ+ and outspoken project titled Bottoms—that Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that she holds much to say, be it about roles, relationships, or the merits of forming a teen brawl society. Furthermore, by the end her new multi-episode program titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star has even more perspectives regarding the struggles of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents a bridge to younger audiences, straddling eras skilled for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Creative Vision
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being a fan, referencing it in addition to Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as influences for her series, which tracks the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also new agent Sennott’s character. However, the largest influence on creative vision belonged to the HBO series, the show depicting a rising celebrity making his way in a corrupt Hollywood (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it during COVID-19, became “hooked”, and decided to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The inspiration for this project came—partly—from firsthand, at first difficult, move to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. It was an era that involved her understand some big life lessons, professionally and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott started creating and acting comedy while enrolled in theatre at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “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, performing at amateur nights with Edebiri and sharing uproarious (and distinctly) weird skits online. One, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women fetishistically drawn to having babies; a different one portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being stuck in a thriller. By chance, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately featuring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, stating amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Those who were skeptical regarding Sennott earlier will likely be kicking themselves currently. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she seems to have manifested an ideal role. A few years back she posted a video named on LA life online, in which she lampooned film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about LA residents balancing advantages of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your client being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). One might simple to create a show about digital influence that was extremely idealized—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at the characters. This show does neither, resulting in a depiction of advantaged young adult life that’s candid about the mess and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
