The actress and writer exploring the side-splitting comedy about that chaotic appeal of today's youth existence
Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and immediately launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming really remorseful. She is only a couple of minutes late, she needs to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, for a writer, this is precisely what one hopes to experience. Besides, it’s quite predictable. Those familiar with her fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—that she co-wrote with her creative partner and starred in together with collaborator the talented actress—can understand that Sennott has plenty to say, be it on identity, intimacy, or the merits of starting a youth combat group. Plus, after watching her recent multi-episode program I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has additional perspectives on the darker side of Gen Z life (At 30, Sennott is a bridge for this generation, a tale-end millennial skilled for straddling different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being a fan, referencing the show together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as influences for the project, which tracks the struggles of online personality Tallulah and her friend who is also new representative Maia. However, the most significant presence on creative vision belonged to the popular sitcom, the show depicting a rising A-list actor making his way in a corrupt entertainment industry (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it throughout the pandemic, became “captivated”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The concept for this project originated—in part—from her own, initially rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about occurrence for enthusiasts. That period marked an era that involved her grasp major insights, professionally and in private life. “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. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott began creating and acting stand-up while enrolled in acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” 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 amateur nights with Ayo and posting hysterical (and very) unconventional online content digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on characters obsessively obsessed with motherhood; a different one imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as like being stuck in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her career, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, instead of established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, adding humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who questioned about Sennott previously will surely be kicking themselves today. As part of she describes as a “incredibly circular” development, she seems to have achieved the perfect project. Previously she shared a video called about Los Angeles online, in which she mocked film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about Angelenos juggling the perks of online celebrity (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated thief, and possibly becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be simple to create a show about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. The series steers clear of each, making for a representation of advantaged millennial life that’s candid about the mess and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
