Rachel Sennott joins the video call and immediately begins an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, appearing really apologetic. Despite being only a couple of minutes delayed, she feels compelled to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is exactly what one hopes to hear. Besides, it’s pretty expected. Anyone who have seen her unapologetically openly gay and outspoken film Bottoms—which she penned with Emma Seligman and starred in together with close companion Ayo Edebiri—can already know that she has plenty to say, whether on gender, sex, or the pros of starting a teen brawl society. Furthermore, once you finish the latest seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she carries further insights regarding the challenges of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott serves as an honorary member of the gang, on the cusp with a knack for connecting different age groups).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, citing it alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for the project, which follows the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and fledgling representative Maia. Perhaps, the largest influence on the moodboard went to the HBO series, the HBO sitcom depicting an emerging A-list actor making his way in an often-seedy entertainment industry (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it throughout COVID-19, became “captivated”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective 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 the series originated—partly—from her own, at first rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about phenomenon for enthusiasts. It was an era that included her understand major life lessons, work-wise and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced creating and acting humor while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She seized control, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and posting uproarious (and decidedly) bizarre skits digitally. One, Baby Cult, followed characters intensely obsessed with pregnancy; another envisioned being employed at the brand Hollister as akin to being caught in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her journey, she says, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, stating humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Anyone who had doubts about her previously will certainly be kicking themselves now. Through she describes as a “incredibly circular” development, she appears to achieved her dream vehicle. A few years back she uploaded content named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she mocked film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a comedy about Angelenos managing advantages of online celebrity (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your client being suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and potentially becoming a risky persona non grata). It would be simple to make a show about internet celebrity that was extremely aspirational—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. I Love LA avoids both, making for a representation of advantaged young adult living that’s candid about the chaos and the appeal.
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
