Rachel Sennott appears on the online meeting and right away launches into an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, sounding truly remorseful. Despite being only a bit behind, 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 just what one hopes to hear. Besides, it’s fairly unsurprising. Those familiar with the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—which Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside collaborator The Bear’s standout—will already know that Sennott possesses plenty to discuss, be it about identity, relationships, or the merits of starting a teen combat group. And, after watching the recent seasonal HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds further insights about the challenges of modern youth (As a millennial, Sennott is a relatable figure to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling different age groups).
Influences and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being an admirer, naming it together with the classic series, Insecure and the innovative program as influences for her series, which follows the journey of a social media star Tallulah and close companion who is also new talent manager Maia. Notably, the largest spot on concept belonged to Entourage, the HBO sitcom about a rising celebrity navigating in a gritty LA scene (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She started watching it during lockdown, became “captivated”, and decided 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 concept for this project came—in part—from firsthand, at first difficult, relocation to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. That period marked an era that saw her learn some big life lessons, professionally and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” 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…”
Starting Out
Raised in New England, Sennott began writing and performing humor while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She decided to act independently, appearing at live shows with her friend and posting hilarious (and decidedly) unconventional skits digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters obsessively drawn to motherhood; a different one imagined being employed at the brand Hollister as like being stuck in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a religious event with hints of the intense thriller. The big theme of her path, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, as opposed to traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who were skeptical regarding Sennott previously will certainly be regretting it today. Through she describes as a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she seems to have manifested the perfect project. A few years back she posted content named on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a show about city dwellers juggling advantages of internet fame (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your client being labeled as being a drug-addled criminal, and possibly becoming a risky outcast). It would be easy to produce a program about digital influence that was horribly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at those depicted. This show avoids both, making for a depiction of affluent millennial existence that’s candid about the grot and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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