Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and right away starts an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, seeming truly remorseful. Despite being only a bit delayed, she wants to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is precisely what is ideal to hear. Moreover, it’s pretty expected. Those who have seen the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and outspoken movie Bottoms—which Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that Sennott has a lot to say, ranging from about roles, relationships, or the merits of creating a teen fight club. And, by the end her recent multi-episode show I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds additional perspectives about the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, she represents a bridge to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for connecting different age groups).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and the actress admits to being a fan, citing it together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as influences for the project, which details the travails of online personality Tallulah and her friend who is also new agent portrayed by Sennott. However, the largest presence on concept went to Entourage, the program depicting an emerging Hollywood star making his way in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She started watching it amid lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The inspiration for this project emerged—to some extent—from personal, at first difficult, transition to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. It was a time that saw her grasp significant truths, in her career and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Raised in New England, Sennott commenced creating and acting comedy while studying performance at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She seized control, taking the stage at amateur nights with Edebiri and sharing hysterical (and distinctly) bizarre skits online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females intensely fixated on motherhood; a different one envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being trapped in a horror film. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her journey, she explains, has been contemporaries supporting her, instead of the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she repeats, adding with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who were skeptical regarding Sennott earlier will surely be regretting it now. In what she describes as a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she appears to achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she posted a video named about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she mocked film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a series about city dwellers managing the perks of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and possibly becoming a risky outcast). Some could easy to make a show about online fame that was extremely idealized—or, worse, one that belittled at its subjects. The series does neither, resulting in a portrait of advantaged twentysomething living that’s honest about the chaos and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
