Rachel Sennott on her uproarious show about that chaotic glamour of Gen Z lifestyle
Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and immediately starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, appearing genuinely remorseful. Despite being only slightly delayed, she feels compelled to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s precisely what one hopes to experience. Moreover, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone who have seen her unapologetically openly gay and brash movie Bottoms—which she co-wrote with her creative partner and appeared in together with close companion Ayo Edebiri—can understand that Sennott possesses plenty to discuss, ranging from about gender, intimacy, or the merits of forming a high-school combat group. And, once you finish the new eight-part show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds further perspectives about the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott serves as a relatable figure of the gang, a tale-end millennial adept for bridging both generations).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being a fan, naming the show alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as guides for her series, which follows the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also new representative portrayed by Sennott. However, the most significant influence on creative vision belonged to the HBO series, the program depicting an up-and-coming A-list actor making his way in an often-seedy entertainment industry (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it throughout COVID-19, became “hooked”, and chose to put her own twist 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 says. The idea for this project originated—partly—from firsthand, originally difficult, move to LA and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for followers. That period marked a time that included her grasp some big insights, professionally and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Brought up in New England, Sennott started creating and acting humor while enrolled in acting 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.” I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott seized control, taking the stage at amateur nights with Ayo and uploading hysterical (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos digitally. One, Baby Cult, depicted characters intensely fixated on pregnancy; another envisioned working at the brand Hollister as akin to being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a religious event with hints of the intense thriller. The big theme of her career, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who had doubts regarding Sennott then will certainly be kicking themselves currently. Through she labels a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she has created the perfect project. In 2019 she posted content called on LA life on the internet, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a comedy about Angelenos juggling advantages of online celebrity (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your associate being accused of being a intoxicated criminal, and perhaps becoming a risky outcast). It would be easy to create a show about online fame that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that mocked at its subjects. The series does neither, resulting in a portrait of advantaged twentysomething existence that’s frank about the grot and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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