Rachel Sennott joins the video call and right away launches into an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely remorseful. She is only a bit late, she feels compelled to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, for a writer, this is precisely what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Anyone who have seen the fearlessly openly gay and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside collaborator the talented actress—would be aware that she possesses a lot to discuss, be it on gender, sex, or the pros of starting a teen fight club. Plus, once you finish her new seasonal program I Love LA, it is clear that she holds further thoughts on the darker side of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she serves as a bridge to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial adept for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Parallels to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott is a fan, citing the show together with the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for her series, which tracks the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also fledgling representative Maia. Perhaps, the biggest spot on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, the HBO sitcom depicting a rising Hollywood star succeeding in a corrupt LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott began viewing it throughout lockdown, became “hooked”, and decided to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The concept for this project came—in part—from firsthand, at first rocky, move to Tinseltown and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for followers. It was a time that saw her learn major life lessons, 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 resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott commenced creating and acting comedy while enrolled in theatre at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at amateur nights with her friend and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) bizarre skits digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed characters fetishistically drawn to motherhood; a different one portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she met Seligman through campus film circles and ended up appearing in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her path, she says, has been peers offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, adding humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Those who questioned regarding her previously will surely be regretting it now. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. A few years back she uploaded content called “it’s LA” online, in which she mocked film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a comedy about LA residents balancing benefits of internet fame (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and possibly becoming a risky persona non grata). Some could simple to create a series about digital influence that was horribly idealized—or, worse, one that belittled at those depicted. This show does neither, resulting in a depiction of affluent young adult life that’s candid about the grot and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“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
