Rachel Sennott enters the online meeting and immediately starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing truly apologetic. Despite being only a bit late, she needs to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, in this context, this is precisely what one hopes to encounter. Besides, it’s quite predictable. Anyone who know her fearlessly openly gay and brash film titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with the director and starred in alongside collaborator The Bear’s standout—would be aware that she holds much to share, whether on identity, sex, or the merits of forming a teen combat group. And, once you finish the latest multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds even more insights about the struggles of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she is a bridge to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and the actress is an admirer, naming the show alongside Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for the project, which follows the struggles of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also new agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest influence on the moodboard went to the HBO series, the show about an up-and-coming celebrity navigating in a corrupt entertainment industry (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott started watching it amid COVID-19, became “captivated”, and decided to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The idea for this project came—to some extent—from firsthand, initially rocky, relocation to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed event for followers. It was a phase that included her learn major truths, professionally and personally. “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.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Growing up in Connecticut, the star began creating and acting humor while pursuing performance at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “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. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with Ayo and uploading hysterical (and distinctly) weird comedy videos online. One, titled Baby Cult, followed several females intensely obsessed with motherhood; another envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a religious event with echoes of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her journey, she says, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, rather than traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she repeats, adding humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who questioned regarding Sennott previously will certainly be feeling foolish currently. In what she calls a “wild, full-circle” development, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she posted a clip named on LA life on the internet, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about LA residents balancing the perks of digital stardom (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being accused of being a intoxicated stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable pariah). One might tempting to produce a show about online fame that was horribly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that punched down at the characters. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a depiction of advantaged millennial existence that’s frank about the chaos and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
