Rachel Sennott joins the online meeting and right away begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, appearing truly remorseful. She is only a couple of minutes delayed, she needs to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, in this context, that’s exactly what one hopes to experience. Besides, it’s pretty predictable. Those who have seen the unapologetically openly gay and brash film Bottoms—which she collaborated on with her creative partner and appeared in together with collaborator the talented actress—can understand that she has plenty to say, whether on identity, sex, or the pros of creating a teen brawl society. Furthermore, once you finish the latest eight-part show I Love LA, it is clear that she holds further thoughts about the challenges of Gen Z life (At 30, she is a relatable figure to younger audiences, straddling eras skilled for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and the actress admits to being an admirer, naming the show in addition to Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for her series, which follows the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and close companion who is also fledgling agent Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the largest influence on the moodboard belonged to Entourage, the HBO sitcom depicting an emerging A-list actor navigating in a gritty entertainment industry (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it throughout the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and decided to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The idea for this project came—to some extent—from her own, initially fractious, relocation to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. That period marked an era that involved her understand some big truths, professionally and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Brought up in New England, the star commenced developing and showcasing humor while pursuing acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott decided to act independently, performing at live shows with Edebiri and posting uproarious (and very) weird online content online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on several females intensely obsessed with motherhood; a different one envisioned working at the brand Hollister as like being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a religious event with hints of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her path, she notes, has been peers offering opportunities, as opposed to traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, adding with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Those who had doubts regarding her earlier will likely be kicking themselves today. In what she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she has created the perfect project. Previously she posted a video titled about Los Angeles on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a series about city dwellers juggling the perks of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your associate being suspected of being a substance-abusing stealer, and potentially becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be tempting to create a program about online fame that was overly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at those depicted. The series steers clear of each, creating a depiction of affluent young adult existence that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
