Rachel Sennott joins the video call and immediately begins an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, appearing really regretful. Despite being only a couple of minutes late, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, in this context, this is just what is ideal to experience. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone who know her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and brash project titled Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with the director and appeared in alongside collaborator The Bear’s standout—would understand that Sennott possesses much to discuss, ranging from about roles, intimacy, or the pros of forming a teen fight club. Plus, after watching her recent seasonal program I Love LA, it is clear that she has even more insights on the challenges of modern youth (At 30, Sennott represents an honorary member of the gang, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being an admirer, naming the show together with Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the travails of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also fledgling agent Maia. However, the biggest presence on concept was reserved for Entourage, that program about an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy entertainment industry (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it throughout the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and decided to add a fresh perspective 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 notes. The inspiration for this project originated—in part—from her own, originally fractious, relocation to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a popular occurrence for astrology heads. It was an era that involved her understand significant insights, work-wise and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “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…”
Humble Origins
Brought up in Connecticut, the star began developing and showcasing comedy while studying theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” 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. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott seized control, taking the stage at open mics with Ayo and posting hilarious (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, followed several females intensely fixated on motherhood; another envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, as opposed to traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who were skeptical regarding her previously will likely be feeling foolish currently. In what she calls a “astonishingly complete” story, she seems to have achieved the perfect project. In 2019 she uploaded a clip named on LA life on the internet, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a show about LA residents juggling benefits of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). Some could tempting to create a program about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA steers clear of each, resulting in a portrait of affluent young adult existence that’s frank about the grot and the glamour.
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
