Rachel Sennott enters the video call and immediately launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, appearing truly remorseful. She is only slightly late, she needs to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s just what is ideal to experience. Additionally, it’s quite predictable. Viewers familiar with her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and starred in with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that Sennott possesses much to discuss, be it about gender, sex, or the appeal of forming a youth combat group. Plus, after watching her recent seasonal show I Love LA, viewers realize that she carries further thoughts on the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents an honorary member to younger audiences, straddling eras with a knack for bridging both generations).
Influences and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress is enthusiastic, referencing the show in addition to Sex and the City, Insecure and the innovative program as influences for her series, which details the struggles of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also new agent Maia. Notably, the largest spot on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, the show focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star navigating in a gritty Hollywood (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it amid the pandemic, became “hooked”, and chose to create a new version 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 the series originated—in part—from her own, at first rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from the cosmic event, a popular occurrence for astrology heads. That period marked a time that included her learn major life lessons, in her career and personally. “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. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in the East Coast, the star began creating and acting stand-up while pursuing theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She took matters into her own hands, performing at amateur nights with Ayo and sharing uproarious (and very) unconventional online content on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely obsessed with motherhood; a different one portrayed working at the brand Hollister as similar to being stuck in a horror film. Interestingly, she met Seligman through campus film circles and ended up featuring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a religious event with hints of the intense thriller. The central motif of her path, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, continuing with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who questioned about Sennott previously will surely be kicking themselves currently. As part of she describes as a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she appears to achieved the perfect project. In 2019 she posted a clip titled “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a show about city dwellers managing benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your client being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and potentially becoming a risky outcast). It would be simple to produce a series about digital influence that was extremely idealized—or, worse, one that belittled at the characters. The series steers clear of each, resulting in a portrait of affluent young adult living that’s honest about the grot and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
