🔗 Share this article

Rachel Sennott joins the online meeting and immediately launches into an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, appearing really regretful. She is only a bit late, she feels compelled to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, during an interview, that’s just what one hopes to experience. Besides, it’s fairly predictable. Those who know her fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and appeared in together with close companion Ayo Edebiri—can be aware that she has much to say, ranging from about identity, relationships, or the merits of starting a high-school brawl society. Furthermore, once you finish the latest eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that she holds additional insights regarding the struggles of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents an honorary member of the gang, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting both generations).

Inspirations and Artistic Direction

The comparisons to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being an admirer, citing the show together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for her series, which details the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also new talent manager Maia. However, the most significant presence on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, the program focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it during the pandemic, became “captivated”, and decided to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The inspiration for the series came—partly—from firsthand, initially difficult, relocation to LA and from the astrological phase, a popular occurrence for astrology heads. This represented a phase that included her grasp some big insights, work-wise and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Starting Out

Growing up in New England, Sennott began creating and acting stand-up while studying theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “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. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”

She took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at open mics with her friend and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) unconventional skits online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on several females fetishistically fixated on having babies; a different one portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as like being trapped in a horror film. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through campus film circles and ended up starring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a funeral gathering with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her path, she says, has been people her own age offering opportunities, instead of established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”

Manifesting Dreams

Individuals who were skeptical about her then will likely be kicking themselves currently. In what she describes as a “astonishingly complete” story, she appears to created the perfect project. A few years back she uploaded a clip titled about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she mocked film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a show about city dwellers juggling the perks of internet fame (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). One might tempting to produce a program about internet celebrity that was horribly idealized—or, worse, one that belittled at its subjects. This show avoids both, creating a representation of affluent young adult living that’s honest about the chaos and the glamour.

Nuanced Portrayal

“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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