Rachel Sennott joins the video call and right away starts an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, appearing genuinely apologetic. Although she's only slightly behind, she feels compelled to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s exactly what one hopes to experience. Moreover, it’s quite expected. Anyone who have seen her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken project titled Bottoms—that Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and featured in together with collaborator The Bear’s standout—would already know that she possesses plenty to share, ranging from about identity, sex, or the pros of forming a high-school combat group. And, once you finish the latest eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that she carries additional thoughts on the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott represents a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for straddling different age groups).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, naming it together with the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for her series, which tracks the journey of online personality Tallulah and close companion and new representative Maia. Perhaps, the biggest presence on concept belonged to the HBO series, that program about an emerging Hollywood star succeeding in a corrupt LA scene (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it during lockdown, became “hooked”, and chose to put her own twist 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 the series originated—partly—from personal, initially fractious, transition to LA and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about event for enthusiasts. It was a phase that saw her learn major truths, work-wise and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” 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 was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Raised in New England, the star started creating and acting humor while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She seized control, performing at live shows with Edebiri and posting uproarious (and decidedly) bizarre comedy videos on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted characters intensely drawn to having babies; another portrayed working at the brand Hollister as similar to being stuck in a scary movie. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and ended up starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a religious event with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her path, she says, has been peers giving her a shot, instead of established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, adding amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who questioned regarding her previously will certainly be kicking themselves now. Through she labels a “astonishingly complete” development, she seems to have created her dream vehicle. In 2019 she shared a video named “it’s LA” online, in which she parodied film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers managing benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being accused of being a substance-abusing criminal, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). It would be tempting to produce a series about online fame that was overly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at those depicted. The series does neither, making for a representation of privileged millennial living that’s candid about the grot and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
