Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and immediately starts an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, appearing genuinely regretful. She is only a bit delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, during an interview, that’s exactly what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s quite predictable. Viewers familiar with her fearlessly queer and outspoken project titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with her creative partner and starred in with close companion Ayo Edebiri—would already know that she has much to say, whether about roles, relationships, or the appeal of forming a teen combat group. Plus, by the end the new eight-part show titled I Love LA, it is clear that she carries additional insights regarding the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott serves as a relatable figure of the gang, straddling eras skilled for bridging both generations).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Parallels to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, naming it together with the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as influences for the project, which follows the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and new representative Sennott’s character. However, the most significant spot on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, the show about an up-and-coming A-list actor succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it during the pandemic, became “hooked”, and resolved to put her own twist 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 explains. The idea for this project emerged—partly—from firsthand, originally difficult, move to Tinseltown and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about event for enthusiasts. That period marked an era that saw her grasp some big life lessons, professionally and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott began creating and acting comedy while pursuing performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at live shows with Ayo and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) unconventional skits on the internet. One, Baby Cult, centered on several females fetishistically drawn to having babies; another envisioned being employed at the brand Hollister as like being caught in a horror film. By chance, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her journey, she explains, has been peers offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, stating humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who questioned about her previously will surely be feeling foolish now. In what she calls a “astonishingly complete” development, she seems to have achieved the perfect project. In 2019 she uploaded a video titled about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about Angelenos managing advantages of online celebrity (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being accused of being a substance-abusing stealer, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). One might tempting to create a program about online fame that was extremely aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at those depicted. The series avoids both, making for a representation of advantaged millennial life that’s honest about the grot and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“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
