Rachel Sennott appears on the online meeting and right away begins an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, sounding really regretful. Although she's only slightly behind, she needs to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is precisely what one hopes to encounter. Moreover, it’s fairly unsurprising. Those familiar with her fearlessly queer and outspoken project titled Bottoms—that Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and featured in with close companion The Bear’s standout—can understand that Sennott possesses much to share, whether on identity, relationships, or the appeal of creating a high-school fight club. Plus, once you finish her new seasonal HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that she carries further thoughts regarding the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, she serves as an honorary member to younger audiences, straddling eras with a knack for straddling different age groups).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being an admirer, citing the show in addition to Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which details the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and ally who is also aspiring agent Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the most significant spot on the moodboard went to Entourage, that HBO sitcom focusing on an up-and-coming celebrity navigating in an often-seedy entertainment industry (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it amid lockdown, became “hooked”, and decided to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The inspiration for this project emerged—in part—from personal, initially fractious, move to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed phenomenon for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that saw her learn significant life lessons, work-wise and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Brought up in Connecticut, the star began creating and acting humor while studying theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” 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, performing at amateur nights with Ayo and posting hilarious (and very) unconventional skits online. One, Baby Cult, centered on several females fetishistically obsessed with motherhood; another portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being trapped in a horror film. By chance, she connected with Seligman through campus film circles and eventually featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a religious event with echoes of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her path, she explains, has been people her own age supporting her, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, continuing with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who questioned about her then will likely be regretting it now. In what she calls a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she appears to created the perfect project. Previously she posted a video named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she mocked movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a series about LA residents juggling the perks of online celebrity (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being accused of being a intoxicated stealer, and potentially becoming a unreliable persona non grata). One might easy to create a program about online fame that was overly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. This show does neither, resulting in a representation of privileged millennial living that’s honest about the grot and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
