Rachel Sennott enters the video call and immediately starts an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing genuinely regretful. Although she's only a couple of minutes late, she wants to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s just what is ideal to hear. Moreover, it’s quite unsurprising. Viewers familiar with the boldly queer and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—which she co-wrote with the director and featured in alongside collaborator the talented actress—can be aware that Sennott holds plenty to share, be it on roles, relationships, or the pros of starting a high-school fight club. And, after watching her recent eight-part program titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star carries even more insights on the struggles of Gen Z life (At 30, Sennott represents a bridge for this generation, a tale-end millennial adept for straddling different age groups).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and the actress is a fan, referencing the show in addition to the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as influences for her series, which details the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and her friend and fledgling representative portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the most significant presence on concept went to the HBO series, that show focusing on an up-and-coming A-list actor making his way in an often-seedy LA scene (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it amid the pandemic, became “obsessed”, 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 notes. The concept for this project emerged—in part—from her own, at first difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. This represented an era that saw her grasp 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
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott commenced creating and acting comedy while pursuing theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She seized control, performing at open mics with Edebiri and sharing hilarious (and distinctly) bizarre skits online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women obsessively fixated on motherhood; another envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being trapped in a thriller. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through the university’s film scene and ended up appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her path, she says, has been peers offering opportunities, rather than traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, stating with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who were skeptical about Sennott then will likely be regretting it today. Through she labels a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. A few years back she uploaded content titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a series about Angelenos balancing the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being labeled as being a intoxicated stealer, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). It would be easy to produce a program about online fame that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at those depicted. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a portrait of advantaged young adult life that’s honest about the grot and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
