Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and right away launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, sounding truly remorseful. She is only a bit delayed, she needs to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, in this context, this is exactly what one hopes to experience. Besides, it’s fairly unsurprising. Those who know the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken project Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and featured in together with close companion the talented actress—would understand that Sennott has plenty to say, ranging from about identity, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a high-school fight club. Plus, after watching the new seasonal HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that she holds further thoughts regarding the challenges of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents an honorary member for this generation, on the cusp skilled for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott admits to being an admirer, naming the show in addition to the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as influences for her series, which details the struggles of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also fledgling agent Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the largest influence on concept belonged to Entourage, the show focusing on an up-and-coming A-list actor making his way in a corrupt LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it during COVID-19, became “captivated”, and chose to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The inspiration for the series originated—to some extent—from her own, initially fractious, relocation to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a popular occurrence for astrology heads. It was a time that saw her learn major life lessons, work-wise and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Raised in New England, Sennott commenced writing and performing comedy while pursuing performance 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.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott seized control, taking the stage at live shows with Ayo and sharing uproarious (and very) weird comedy videos online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on several females obsessively obsessed with motherhood; another imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and ended up appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her path, she notes, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, stating with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who had doubts about her earlier will surely be regretting it now. In what she calls a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she seems to have manifested an ideal role. In 2019 she shared a video named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she mocked film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a show about city dwellers balancing the perks of internet fame (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a unreliable persona non grata). It would be easy to make a show about internet celebrity that was horribly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at the characters. This show does neither, creating a representation of privileged 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
