Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and right away launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, sounding really regretful. Although she's only a bit delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “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, in this context, that’s just what you want to experience. Moreover, it’s pretty predictable. Anyone who have seen her boldly LGBTQ+ and brash film titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with her creative partner and starred in together with close companion The Bear’s standout—will be aware that Sennott possesses a lot to discuss, whether on roles, intimacy, or the appeal of starting a teen fight club. And, once you finish the recent multi-episode program titled I Love LA, it is clear that she carries additional insights about the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, she serves as a bridge for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress admits to being an admirer, referencing it in addition to the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for the project, which tracks the journey of an influencer Tallulah and close companion who is also aspiring talent manager Sennott’s character. Notably, the biggest influence on the moodboard went to the HBO series, that show about an emerging A-list actor succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She started watching it during lockdown, became “captivated”, and decided to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The idea for this project emerged—in part—from her own, originally rocky, move to LA and from the saturn return, a much-talked-about event for followers. That period marked a time that included her grasp major life lessons, professionally and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Growing up in Connecticut, the star began creating and acting humor while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at amateur nights with Ayo and posting hilarious (and very) bizarre skits digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted characters fetishistically fixated on motherhood; a different one imagined being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she met Seligman through campus film circles and eventually starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a religious event with echoes of the intense thriller. The big theme of her career, she explains, has been peers giving her a shot, rather than traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, adding amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who questioned about her previously will likely be regretting it now. As part of she describes as a “incredibly circular” development, she has manifested an ideal role. In 2019 she shared a clip called on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a show about Angelenos balancing benefits of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and perhaps becoming a risky pariah). Some could tempting to produce a program about digital influence that was horribly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. This show avoids both, making for a portrait of privileged millennial existence that’s frank about the mess and the shine.
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 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
