Rachel Sennott appears on the digital interview and right away launches into an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, seeming truly remorseful. She is only a couple of minutes late, she needs to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, in this context, that’s precisely what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s fairly predictable. Anyone who have seen her fearlessly openly gay and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—that she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—can be aware that Sennott possesses much to share, ranging from on gender, intimacy, or the pros of creating a high-school brawl society. Furthermore, by the end her new eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she has even more insights about the darker side of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she serves as a bridge of the gang, straddling eras with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Parallels to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, referencing it together with Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as inspirations for her series, which follows the travails of a social media star Tallulah and ally and fledgling representative Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the most significant influence on concept went to Entourage, the show about a rising Hollywood star succeeding in a corrupt LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it during lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The inspiration for the series came—in part—from firsthand, originally difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about phenomenon for followers. It was an era that included her grasp significant truths, in her career and individually. “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. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Brought up in New England, Sennott began writing and performing comedy while enrolled in acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. 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.”
Sennott seized control, taking the stage at live shows with Edebiri and uploading hilarious (and distinctly) bizarre skits digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women obsessively fixated on motherhood; another portrayed being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being caught in a scary movie. By chance, she connected with Seligman through campus film circles and ended up starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she notes, has been peers offering opportunities, rather than traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, stating amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Those who were skeptical regarding Sennott previously will certainly be kicking themselves currently. As part of she describes as a “wild, full-circle” story, she has created her dream vehicle. Previously she shared a video called about Los Angeles on social media, in which she mocked film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a series about city dwellers balancing advantages of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and perhaps becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be tempting to make a show about digital influence that was extremely glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at the characters. The series avoids both, making for a depiction of affluent twentysomething life that’s honest about the chaos and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” she observes. “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
