Rachel Sennott joins the video call and at once begins an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, sounding truly remorseful. She is only a couple of minutes behind, she needs to justify. “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 just what one hopes to experience. Besides, it’s fairly unsurprising. Those who have seen the unapologetically queer and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—which she penned with Emma Seligman and starred in together with her friend the talented actress—will be aware that she has a lot to share, be it about roles, relationships, or the pros of creating a teen combat group. Furthermore, once you finish the recent seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star carries even more insights about the struggles of young adulthood (At 30, she represents an honorary member for this generation, a tale-end millennial adept for bridging both generations).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott is enthusiastic, referencing the show together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for the project, which follows the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and ally and fledgling representative portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the most significant presence on concept belonged to the HBO series, the program depicting a rising celebrity succeeding in an often-seedy LA scene (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it during lockdown, became “hooked”, and chose to put her own twist 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 explains. The idea for this project emerged—partly—from personal, at first fractious, move to LA and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed occurrence for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that saw her understand some big life lessons, work-wise and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “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
Brought up in New England, the star began creating and acting stand-up while pursuing theatre at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott seized control, appearing at amateur nights with Ayo and uploading hilarious (and very) bizarre comedy videos digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females intensely obsessed with having babies; a different one imagined working at the brand Hollister as akin to being caught in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her path, she says, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, instead of traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, continuing humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who had doubts regarding Sennott earlier will surely be regretting it now. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have manifested the perfect project. In 2019 she uploaded a video called “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a series about LA residents balancing advantages of internet fame (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being accused of being a substance-abusing stealer, and perhaps becoming a risky persona non grata). One might easy to make a show about digital influence that was horribly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that punched down at those depicted. The series steers clear of each, creating a portrait of privileged millennial living that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
