Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and right away starts an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming really remorseful. Despite being only slightly late, she wants to justify. “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, this is precisely what is ideal to experience. Besides, it’s pretty expected. Anyone who know the unapologetically queer and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and appeared in alongside her friend the talented actress—would be aware that she has plenty to say, be it about identity, sex, or the appeal of forming a teen combat group. Furthermore, after watching the new seasonal program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries even more thoughts regarding the challenges of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as an honorary member for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for bridging both generations).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott is a fan, referencing it alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as guides for I Love LA, which tracks the journey of online personality Tallulah and close companion who is also fledgling agent Sennott’s character. However, the biggest presence on creative vision belonged to the popular sitcom, the show focusing on an emerging celebrity succeeding in a gritty LA scene (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it during lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose 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 notes. The concept for the series originated—partly—from personal, at first fractious, move to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a popular phenomenon for followers. This represented a time that involved her learn some big life lessons, professionally and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “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…”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in New England, the star started developing and showcasing stand-up while pursuing performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She seized control, taking the stage at amateur nights with Ayo and posting hilarious (and very) unconventional skits online. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females fetishistically fixated on motherhood; another imagined being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a religious event with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been peers offering opportunities, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who questioned regarding Sennott earlier will likely be kicking themselves currently. Through she describes as a “wild, full-circle” development, she appears to created her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded a video called “it’s LA” online, in which she mocked movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about city dwellers juggling advantages of internet fame (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your client being suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a risky outcast). Some could tempting to make a series about online fame that was horribly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at those depicted. The series avoids both, making for a representation of advantaged twentysomething living that’s frank about the mess and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” she says. “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
