The actress and writer on her hilarious series about that chaotic allure of Gen Z existence
Rachel Sennott appears on the digital interview and at once starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, sounding really regretful. She is only a bit behind, she feels compelled to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is just what is ideal to encounter. Moreover, it’s pretty predictable. Anyone familiar with her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—which she penned with Emma Seligman and featured in together with close companion Ayo Edebiri—can be aware that Sennott holds much to discuss, whether about gender, relationships, or the pros of creating a youth brawl society. And, once you finish her recent eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star has even more insights on the struggles of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott represents an honorary member of the gang, straddling eras with a knack for bridging different age groups).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress is a fan, referencing the show alongside the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which details the journey of online personality Tallulah and close companion who is also new talent manager Sennott’s character. Notably, the biggest spot on creative vision went to the popular sitcom, that show focusing on a rising Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it amid lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist 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 notes. The idea for the series originated—in part—from her own, initially fractious, transition to Tinseltown and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. That period marked an era that included her learn major truths, in her career and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Raised in the East Coast, the star started creating and acting humor while pursuing performance at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She seized control, appearing at live shows with Ayo and uploading hysterical (and distinctly) unconventional skits online. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed characters fetishistically obsessed with motherhood; a different one portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through campus film circles and ended up featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a religious event with echoes of the intense thriller. The central motif of her journey, she explains, has been people her own age supporting her, rather than traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who were skeptical regarding Sennott earlier will likely be kicking themselves currently. As part of she describes as a “astonishingly complete” story, she seems to have achieved an ideal role. A few years back she posted a clip called about Los Angeles online, in which she lampooned film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about Angelenos balancing advantages of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable outcast). One might easy to make a show about internet celebrity that was overly idealized—or, worse, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA avoids both, creating a representation of affluent young adult living that’s frank about the chaos and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“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
