The actress and writer on her hilarious comedy depicting that grotty appeal of Gen Z life
Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and at once starts an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, appearing truly regretful. Although she's only a bit late, she feels compelled to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is precisely what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s fairly predictable. Those who know the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken film titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with her creative partner and appeared in together with close companion The Bear’s standout—can understand that Sennott possesses much to say, ranging from on gender, intimacy, or the pros of forming a teen brawl society. Plus, by the end her new seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, it is clear that she has additional thoughts about the challenges of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott is a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress is enthusiastic, citing it alongside the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as influences for the project, which follows the struggles of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also fledgling representative portrayed by Sennott. However, the largest influence on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, that program depicting a rising A-list actor navigating in a corrupt LA scene (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it amid the pandemic, became “captivated”, 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 concept for this project originated—in part—from her own, at first difficult, move to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a popular event for astrology heads. It was a phase that saw her learn major life lessons, work-wise and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott commenced writing and performing comedy while pursuing acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at amateur nights with Edebiri and sharing uproarious (and distinctly) unconventional online content on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively obsessed with having babies; a different one portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being trapped in a horror film. By chance, she connected with 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 shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her path, she notes, has been people her own age giving her a shot, instead of the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Individuals who were skeptical about Sennott then will certainly be feeling foolish today. As part of she labels a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she appears to created her dream vehicle. Previously she shared content called about Los Angeles online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a comedy about city dwellers managing benefits of internet fame (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being accused of being a substance-abusing thief, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be tempting to create a program about digital influence that was horribly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA steers clear of each, resulting in a portrait of affluent twentysomething living that’s frank about the grot 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 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