Rachel Sennott on the hilarious show depicting the chaotic allure of younger generation lifestyle
The star joins the digital interview and right away starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely remorseful. Although she's only a bit late, she needs to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s exactly what you want to encounter. Moreover, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone who know her boldly queer and brash film titled Bottoms—that Sennott penned with her creative partner and starred in with collaborator The Bear’s standout—can already know that Sennott possesses much to discuss, ranging from on roles, sex, or the pros of creating a high-school fight club. And, once you finish her recent eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds further thoughts on the challenges of Gen Z life (At 30, Sennott represents a bridge to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial skilled for straddling both generations).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott is a fan, citing it alongside Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as guides for her series, which follows the travails of online personality Tallulah and her friend who is also aspiring talent manager portrayed by Sennott. However, the most significant presence on creative vision was reserved for Entourage, the HBO sitcom focusing on a rising Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy LA scene (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it amid lockdown, became “obsessed”, and decided to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The concept for the series emerged—to some extent—from personal, at first fractious, relocation to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a popular occurrence for astrology heads. That period marked an era that saw her understand some big truths, in her career and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott started creating and acting comedy while enrolled in performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “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.”
She took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and sharing hysterical (and very) bizarre comedy videos digitally. One, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women intensely drawn to having babies; another portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her journey, she notes, has been peers offering opportunities, instead of the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, stating humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who had doubts regarding Sennott earlier will likely be feeling foolish currently. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” development, she seems to have manifested an ideal role. Previously she posted a video named on LA life on the internet, in which she mocked film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about city dwellers balancing advantages of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being labeled as being a drug-addled criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). One might simple to make a series about internet celebrity that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. This show avoids both, resulting in a depiction of advantaged millennial existence that’s frank about the mess and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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