Rachel Sennott exploring the side-splitting comedy portraying that messy glamour of Gen Z lifestyle
The star joins the video call and right away launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, sounding genuinely regretful. Although she's only slightly behind, she wants to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s precisely what is ideal to hear. Besides, it’s pretty unsurprising. Viewers who have seen her boldly queer and outspoken film Bottoms—that she collaborated on with her creative partner and starred in together with close companion The Bear’s standout—will understand that Sennott has plenty to share, ranging from about gender, relationships, or the merits of forming a high-school combat group. Furthermore, by the end the recent eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star has additional perspectives on the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents an honorary member of the gang, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and Sennott is enthusiastic, naming it alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as influences for her series, which follows the travails of a social media star Tallulah and close companion and fledgling representative Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the largest presence on concept was reserved for Entourage, that program depicting an emerging Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy entertainment industry (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it amid COVID-19, 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 concept for the series came—in part—from her own, at first difficult, relocation to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed occurrence for astrology heads. This represented an era that included her learn major insights, professionally and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced writing and performing humor while enrolled in performance at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott seized control, performing at live shows with her friend and sharing hilarious (and distinctly) unconventional comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed characters intensely fixated on motherhood; another envisioned working at the brand Hollister as similar to being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her career, she explains, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, adding with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who were skeptical regarding Sennott earlier will surely be feeling foolish currently. Through she calls a “incredibly circular” development, she appears to achieved her dream vehicle. A few years back she shared a clip titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers managing advantages of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being labeled as being a intoxicated criminal, and potentially becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be tempting to produce a series about digital influence that was overly idealized—or, worse, one that belittled at its subjects. This show does neither, creating a representation of privileged young adult existence that’s frank about the mess and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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