The actress and writer on her hilarious show portraying the chaotic allure of today's youth existence
Rachel Sennott appears on the digital interview and immediately begins an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming truly apologetic. Although she's only a couple of minutes late, she feels compelled to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s exactly what one hopes to experience. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Viewers familiar with the boldly LGBTQ+ and brash movie titled Bottoms—which Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside collaborator The Bear’s standout—can be aware that Sennott has much to say, be it about identity, sex, or the merits of starting a youth brawl society. Plus, after watching her recent multi-episode program I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds further perspectives about the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott is an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for straddling different age groups).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges an admirer, naming it together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as guides for her series, which tracks the travails of an influencer Tallulah and her friend who is also aspiring representative Maia. However, the most significant spot on concept belonged to Entourage, that show depicting an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it during COVID-19, became “hooked”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The idea for this project originated—to some extent—from personal, initially rocky, move to Tinseltown and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about event for astrology heads. It was a time that saw her grasp some big insights, in her career and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Growing up in Connecticut, the star started developing and showcasing stand-up while studying theatre 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. 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.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with Ayo and uploading hysterical (and distinctly) bizarre online content digitally. One, Baby Cult, followed a group of women intensely obsessed with pregnancy; a different one imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through campus film circles and eventually appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. The central motif of her journey, she explains, has been peers offering opportunities, instead of the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, adding with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who questioned regarding Sennott previously will surely be kicking themselves now. Through she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she has created her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted a video named on LA life on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a comedy about city dwellers managing the perks of internet fame (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being labeled as being a intoxicated thief, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). One might easy to produce a show about online fame that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at its subjects. This show avoids both, creating a portrait of privileged millennial existence that’s honest about the chaos and the appeal.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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