Rachel Sennott joins the video call and right away begins an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming really remorseful. She is only a bit delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s just what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Anyone familiar with the fearlessly openly gay and outspoken project titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with her creative partner and featured in together with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—will already know that Sennott holds a lot to share, whether on gender, relationships, or the appeal of forming a teen brawl society. Plus, by the end the latest eight-part program I Love LA, it is clear that she holds further perspectives regarding the struggles of Gen Z life (At 30, Sennott is an honorary member for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress admits to being an admirer, referencing it together with the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as guides for the project, which tracks the struggles of online personality Tallulah and close companion and fledgling representative Maia. However, the largest presence on concept belonged to Entourage, that show about a rising A-list actor navigating in an often-seedy LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott started watching it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and resolved 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 explains. The idea for this project originated—to some extent—from personal, at first difficult, relocation to LA and from the cosmic event, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. That period marked a phase that included her understand major truths, professionally and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at open mics with Ayo and sharing hysterical (and distinctly) bizarre comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; a different one envisioned being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being caught in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a religious event with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her path, she notes, has been people her own age giving her a shot, rather than the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, continuing humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Individuals who had doubts regarding her then will surely be kicking themselves now. Through she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to achieved her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted content named about Los Angeles on social media, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a show about Angelenos balancing advantages of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). It would be simple to produce a program about internet celebrity that was horribly idealized—or, more problematic, one that punched down at those depicted. The series does neither, resulting in a representation of privileged twentysomething living that’s frank about the mess and the glamour.
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
