Rachel Sennott joins the video call and at once starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, sounding genuinely apologetic. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, she wants to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s precisely what you want to hear. Besides, it’s fairly unsurprising. Viewers who have seen her fearlessly queer and brash project titled Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with the director and featured in together with her friend the talented actress—can already know that Sennott possesses much to say, whether on gender, relationships, or the appeal of starting a youth fight club. Furthermore, after watching her new multi-episode show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds even more thoughts on the challenges of modern youth (As a millennial, she serves as a bridge of the gang, straddling eras skilled for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Parallels to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott readily acknowledges enthusiastic, referencing it in addition to the classic series, Insecure and the innovative program as guides for the project, which tracks the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and fledgling agent Maia. Perhaps, the biggest presence on the moodboard went to Entourage, that program focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it during the pandemic, became “captivated”, and decided to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The concept for the series came—to some extent—from firsthand, at first fractious, relocation to Tinseltown and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for astrology heads. It was a time that involved her grasp some big insights, professionally and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Brought up in New England, the star commenced creating and acting comedy while studying acting at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at open mics with her friend and sharing hysterical (and distinctly) unconventional online content digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively fixated on having babies; a different one envisioned working at the brand Hollister as like being caught in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through campus film circles and eventually appearing in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of the intense thriller. The big theme of her path, she says, has been contemporaries supporting her, as opposed to the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, continuing with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Those who had doubts about Sennott earlier will likely be kicking themselves currently. Through she calls a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she seems to have created the perfect project. A few years back she shared content titled on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a show about LA residents managing benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being labeled as being a intoxicated stealer, and possibly becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be tempting to make a show about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that punched down at those depicted. This show does neither, resulting in a portrait of affluent millennial existence that’s frank about the mess and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
