Rachel Sennott enters the video call and right away starts an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely remorseful. Despite being only slightly late, she needs to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is precisely what you want to encounter. Moreover, it’s pretty predictable. Anyone familiar with the unapologetically queer and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with her creative partner and appeared in alongside her friend The Bear’s standout—can be aware that she possesses plenty to share, whether on roles, sex, or the appeal of forming a high-school combat group. Furthermore, once you finish the recent eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds further perspectives about the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott is a bridge for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress is a fan, naming the show alongside the classic series, Insecure and Atlanta as guides for her series, which tracks the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and close companion who is also new talent manager portrayed by Sennott. However, the largest spot on the moodboard went to the HBO series, the program about an emerging Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it throughout lockdown, became “hooked”, and resolved to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The idea for I Love LA came—in part—from personal, initially difficult, move to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. That period marked a phase that involved her understand some big life lessons, professionally and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Brought up in the East Coast, the star began writing and performing stand-up while studying theatre at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott seized control, taking the stage at open mics with Edebiri and posting uproarious (and decidedly) unconventional online content digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters obsessively fixated on motherhood; another imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being caught in a scary movie. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and ended up starring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a religious event with shades of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her path, she says, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, as opposed to traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, continuing humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Those who questioned about Sennott then will surely be regretting it currently. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she has created her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted a video named “it’s LA” online, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a show about Angelenos balancing benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and perhaps becoming a risky outcast). Some could tempting to produce a program about digital influence that was extremely aspirational—or, worse, one that mocked at the characters. This show steers clear of each, making for a representation of affluent millennial living that’s candid about the mess and the glamour.
“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
A blockchain researcher and crypto analyst with over 8 years of experience in decentralized finance and emerging technologies.
