Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and at once launches into an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, sounding truly remorseful. She is only a bit late, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s just what you want to experience. Besides, it’s pretty expected. Anyone familiar with the unapologetically openly gay and brash project Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with her creative partner and featured in with close companion Ayo Edebiri—will understand that she holds plenty to discuss, whether on roles, sex, or the pros of creating a high-school brawl society. Plus, after watching her new seasonal show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has further perspectives regarding the struggles of Gen Z life (At 30, Sennott serves as a bridge to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial adept for connecting both generations).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, naming the show alongside Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as inspirations for the project, which follows the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also aspiring representative Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the largest spot on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, the HBO sitcom about an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it amid COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The inspiration for this project originated—partly—from personal, at first rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about occurrence for enthusiasts. It was a phase that saw her grasp significant life lessons, in her career and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced writing and performing stand-up while pursuing performance at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “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, performing at open mics with her friend and uploading uproarious (and very) weird comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on characters intensely fixated on having babies; a different one portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being stuck in a scary movie. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately appearing in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a Jewish wake with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her journey, she explains, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Individuals who had doubts regarding Sennott earlier will surely be feeling foolish today. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she appears to manifested the perfect project. A few years back she uploaded content titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she lampooned movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a series about LA residents managing advantages of internet fame (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your client being accused of being a intoxicated criminal, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). It would be simple to produce a show about online fame that was extremely idealized—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. The series avoids both, resulting in a depiction of affluent millennial life that’s honest about the grot and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” she says. “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
