Rachel Sennott appears on the video call and at once starts an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, appearing truly remorseful. Although she's only a bit late, she needs to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, during an interview, this is exactly what you want to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty predictable. Those who have seen the unapologetically queer and brash movie titled Bottoms—which she penned with her creative partner and featured in together with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—will already know that she holds a lot to say, be it about roles, intimacy, or the pros of forming a teen brawl society. And, after watching the recent multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that the star carries additional insights about the struggles of Gen Z life (At 30, Sennott serves as a bridge for this generation, a tale-end millennial skilled for bridging different age groups).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, citing it alongside the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which tracks the travails of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and new agent Maia. Perhaps, the largest influence on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, that show depicting a rising Hollywood star making his way in a corrupt LA scene (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She started watching it amid lockdown, became “obsessed”, 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 concept for the series originated—to some extent—from personal, originally difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a much-talked-about phenomenon for enthusiasts. It was an era that saw her learn significant life lessons, work-wise and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Growing up in the East Coast, the star commenced creating and acting stand-up while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She decided to act independently, taking the stage at live shows with Edebiri and posting hysterical (and very) weird skits online. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on several females fetishistically obsessed with motherhood; a different one portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a Jewish wake with shades of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her career, she explains, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, instead of traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she repeats, continuing amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Those who questioned about Sennott previously will surely be regretting it now. Through she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she has achieved her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted a clip called on LA life on social media, in which she parodied movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a series about city dwellers managing advantages of digital stardom (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and potentially becoming a risky outcast). One might easy to produce a series about online fame that was extremely aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, creating a portrait of affluent young adult living that’s honest about the mess and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
