The actress and writer on the uproarious comedy portraying the grotty allure of Gen Z existence
Rachel Sennott joins the video call and immediately launches into an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, sounding truly remorseful. She is only a bit delayed, she wants to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is exactly what is ideal to experience. Moreover, it’s pretty expected. Anyone who have seen the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken film titled Bottoms—which she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside close companion Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that Sennott holds much to say, be it about gender, sex, or the pros of creating a high-school fight club. Plus, by the end her latest eight-part program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she has additional perspectives on the darker side of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she is a relatable figure of the gang, straddling eras with a knack for connecting different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Parallels to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, citing the show together with the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for the project, which details the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also aspiring representative Maia. Perhaps, the largest presence on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, the program focusing on an up-and-coming celebrity navigating in an often-seedy entertainment industry (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it amid COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and resolved 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 inspiration for the series emerged—in part—from firsthand, at first rocky, relocation to LA and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that involved her grasp some big insights, work-wise and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Brought up in Connecticut, the star started developing and showcasing comedy while pursuing theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She seized control, performing at live shows with her friend and sharing hysterical (and very) bizarre skits on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on a group of women fetishistically drawn to having babies; another envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually featuring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a religious event with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her path, she notes, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who had doubts regarding her then will surely be regretting it currently. Through she describes as a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. A few years back she uploaded a video titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about Angelenos balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being labeled as being a drug-addled criminal, and perhaps becoming a unreliable outcast). Some could easy to make a show about digital influence that was horribly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. This show avoids both, making for a depiction of affluent millennial existence that’s candid about the mess and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“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
