🔗 Share this article

Rachel Sennott enters the video call and immediately launches into an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, sounding 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!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s exactly what one hopes to experience. Besides, it’s quite unsurprising. Those familiar with her unapologetically openly gay and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with her creative partner and starred in together with her friend the talented actress—will already know that Sennott possesses a lot to discuss, be it on gender, relationships, or the merits of starting a high-school combat group. Plus, after watching the latest eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she has even more thoughts on the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she represents a bridge to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for bridging millennials and Gen Z).

Inspirations and Creative Vision

The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress is enthusiastic, citing it alongside the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as guides for the project, which follows the journey of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also new agent Maia. However, the most significant presence on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, the show depicting an emerging celebrity navigating in a corrupt entertainment industry (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it amid COVID-19, became “captivated”, and decided to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The inspiration for I Love LA came—in part—from firsthand, originally fractious, move to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a much-talked-about occurrence for followers. It was an era that involved her grasp some big truths, in her career and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Starting Out

Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott started writing and performing stand-up 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.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”

Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at open mics with her friend and sharing uproarious (and decidedly) weird online content online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women obsessively drawn to having babies; a different one portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being trapped in a thriller. By chance, she encountered Seligman through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a religious event with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she explains, has been peers supporting her, instead of traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Rising Success

Those who were skeptical regarding Sennott earlier will certainly be feeling foolish today. As part of she labels a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she appears to manifested her dream vehicle. A few years back she shared a clip called on LA life on the internet, in which she mocked film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a show about city dwellers balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being labeled as being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a risky pariah). One might simple to make a series about digital influence that was horribly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that punched down at its subjects. This show does neither, creating a portrait of advantaged young adult existence that’s candid about the grot and the shine.

Balanced Perspective

“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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