Rachel Sennott joins the video call and immediately begins an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely apologetic. Despite being only a bit behind, she feels compelled to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s exactly what you want to experience. Additionally, it’s quite unsurprising. Viewers who know the boldly openly gay and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—which she penned with her creative partner and featured in alongside collaborator the talented actress—would already know that she has much to discuss, ranging from on gender, relationships, or the pros of starting a high-school combat group. Plus, once you finish her recent seasonal program I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has additional perspectives about the struggles of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she serves as a relatable figure to younger audiences, straddling eras skilled for bridging both generations).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott is an admirer, citing the show together with the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as inspirations for her series, which tracks the journey of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and new talent manager portrayed by Sennott. However, the biggest influence on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, that HBO sitcom depicting an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty entertainment industry (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it during COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and decided to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The inspiration for this project emerged—in part—from firsthand, initially rocky, move to LA and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed event for astrology heads. This represented a phase that included her learn major truths, in her career and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Brought up in Connecticut, the star commenced developing and showcasing stand-up while studying theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, performing at amateur nights with Edebiri and posting hysterical (and distinctly) weird comedy videos online. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters fetishistically fixated on motherhood; another imagined working at the brand Hollister as akin to being stuck in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her career, she explains, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, instead of the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, adding humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who questioned regarding her then will certainly be feeling foolish today. As part of she labels a “wild, full-circle” development, she seems to have manifested an ideal role. A few years back she posted content called “it’s LA” online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a show about city dwellers managing the perks of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being labeled as being a substance-abusing stealer, and perhaps becoming a risky outcast). It would be easy to produce a series about online fame that was overly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at its subjects. The series does neither, resulting in a representation of affluent twentysomething life that’s honest about the mess and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” she says. “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
