Rachel Sennott enters the digital interview and at once starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming truly apologetic. Although she's 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!” Luckily, for a writer, this is exactly what is ideal to hear. Besides, it’s fairly expected. Anyone who know her boldly LGBTQ+ and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—that she penned with the director and starred in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—will understand that Sennott holds much to say, be it on identity, intimacy, or the merits of forming a high-school combat group. Furthermore, after watching her recent eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, it is clear that she holds additional perspectives regarding the challenges of modern youth (At 30, Sennott represents a bridge to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for straddling different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being an admirer, referencing the show alongside Sex and the City, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for her series, which tracks the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and new representative Maia. Notably, the biggest spot on creative vision belonged to the popular sitcom, that HBO sitcom focusing on a rising celebrity navigating in an often-seedy LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it throughout lockdown, became “captivated”, and decided to add a fresh perspective 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 idea for this project emerged—partly—from her own, originally rocky, relocation to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. This represented a phase that saw her understand major life lessons, in her career and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott began creating and acting comedy while studying performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She decided to act independently, performing at live shows with her friend and uploading hysterical (and decidedly) weird skits digitally. One, Baby Cult, depicted several females fetishistically obsessed with pregnancy; another imagined working at the brand Hollister as like being caught in a scary movie. By chance, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her path, she explains, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, instead of traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, continuing with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who had doubts about her previously will surely be feeling foolish now. As part of she calls a “wild, full-circle” development, she seems to have achieved an ideal role. Previously she shared content called about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she mocked film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a show about city dwellers managing the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your client being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a risky outcast). One might simple to produce a show about online fame that was horribly glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a depiction of advantaged twentysomething life that’s frank about the chaos and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“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
