Rachel Sennott appears on the video call and right away launches into an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, sounding genuinely apologetic. Although she's only a couple of minutes delayed, she needs to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is just what is ideal to hear. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Viewers familiar with the fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—can already know that Sennott has a lot to say, whether about roles, intimacy, or the merits of creating a high-school fight club. Furthermore, by the end the latest multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds further insights about the struggles of modern youth (Now in her thirties, she serves as a bridge to younger audiences, straddling eras with a knack for bridging both generations).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, citing the show alongside the classic series, Insecure and Atlanta as guides for her series, which follows the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and her friend and fledgling representative Sennott’s character. However, the biggest influence on creative vision belonged to Entourage, that HBO sitcom about an up-and-coming celebrity making his way in a gritty LA scene (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She started watching it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and resolved to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The idea for this project came—to some extent—from her own, originally fractious, move to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed event for enthusiasts. This represented an era that saw her understand significant truths, in her career and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced writing and performing stand-up while studying acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “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. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at amateur nights with Edebiri and sharing uproarious (and very) bizarre skits on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women obsessively obsessed with motherhood; a different one imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a religious event with shades of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her path, she says, has been peers offering opportunities, as opposed to traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she repeats, adding humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who had doubts about her earlier will surely be kicking themselves now. Through she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she has achieved her dream vehicle. A few years back she uploaded a clip titled about Los Angeles online, in which she parodied movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about LA residents juggling the perks of internet fame (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your friend being labeled as being a intoxicated stealer, and possibly becoming a risky outcast). Some could simple to create a series about digital influence that was overly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at the characters. The series steers clear of each, making for a depiction of affluent young adult living that’s frank about the mess and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“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
