Rachel Sennott joins the online meeting and immediately starts an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, appearing truly remorseful. Although she's only a couple of minutes behind, she feels compelled to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, in this context, this is precisely what one hopes to experience. Additionally, it’s quite expected. Anyone who know the fearlessly queer and brash project Bottoms—which she co-wrote with the director and appeared in with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would already know that Sennott possesses plenty to share, ranging from on roles, intimacy, or the appeal of starting a teen brawl society. Furthermore, by the end her recent seasonal program titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she carries further perspectives about the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents an honorary member of the gang, straddling eras with a knack for connecting different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott is a fan, citing it together with the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as guides for her series, which tracks the travails of online personality Tallulah and close companion who is also aspiring talent manager Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the biggest spot on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, that show focusing on an emerging Hollywood star navigating in an often-seedy entertainment industry (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it during COVID-19, became “captivated”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The idea for this project emerged—to some extent—from her own, originally difficult, relocation to Tinseltown and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed phenomenon for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that included her grasp significant insights, in her career and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Growing up in New England, Sennott began writing and performing humor while enrolled in acting at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at amateur nights with Edebiri and uploading hilarious (and distinctly) weird skits on the internet. One, Baby Cult, followed several females obsessively fixated on motherhood; another imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up appearing in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her career, she explains, has been contemporaries supporting her, rather than established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, continuing humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who were skeptical regarding Sennott previously will surely be kicking themselves currently. Through she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to manifested her dream vehicle. A few years back she uploaded a video titled on LA life on the internet, in which she mocked film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a series about city dwellers balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled thief, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). It would be easy to produce a series about digital influence that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that punched down at the characters. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a portrait of affluent millennial living that’s candid about the grot and the appeal.
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
