Rachel Sennott appears on the online meeting and at once launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, sounding really apologetic. Despite being only a bit behind, she needs to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, in this context, this is just what is ideal to hear. Besides, it’s pretty unsurprising. Viewers familiar with the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and brash project Bottoms—which she co-wrote with the director and featured in alongside close companion The Bear’s standout—can understand that she possesses plenty to discuss, be it on roles, relationships, or the merits of forming a teen brawl society. And, once you finish her recent eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries additional perspectives on the challenges of modern youth (Now in her thirties, she represents a bridge for this generation, a tale-end millennial adept for bridging different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges an admirer, citing the show alongside Sex and the City, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as influences for I Love LA, which details the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and ally who is also fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. However, the most significant influence on creative vision went to Entourage, the show focusing on an emerging A-list actor navigating in an often-seedy entertainment industry (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it throughout lockdown, became “captivated”, and resolved to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The inspiration for this project came—partly—from firsthand, initially difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed occurrence for astrology heads. It was a phase that included her understand major truths, work-wise and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “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
Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott started developing and showcasing comedy while pursuing acting at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She took matters into her own hands, appearing at live shows with Edebiri and posting uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre online content online. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed characters intensely obsessed with pregnancy; a different one envisioned working at the brand Hollister as like being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a religious event with echoes of the intense thriller. The central motif of her path, she notes, has been peers offering opportunities, rather than established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, continuing with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Anyone who were skeptical about Sennott earlier will certainly be kicking themselves currently. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she seems to have achieved an ideal role. In 2019 she shared a video titled “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she mocked movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a comedy about LA residents managing benefits of internet fame (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being accused of being a intoxicated criminal, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). One might easy to produce a series about internet celebrity that was overly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at its subjects. This show steers clear of each, creating a depiction of affluent millennial existence that’s honest about the mess and the appeal.
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
