Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and right away launches into an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, appearing really apologetic. Despite being only a bit delayed, she feels compelled to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is exactly what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Those familiar with her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and brash project titled Bottoms—that she penned with the director and appeared in with close companion the talented actress—can understand that Sennott has a lot to share, whether on gender, sex, or the merits of forming a high-school fight club. Furthermore, after watching the recent seasonal program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds further thoughts regarding the darker side of modern youth (As a millennial, she represents a relatable figure for this generation, on the cusp skilled for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott readily acknowledges an admirer, citing it together with Sex and the City, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as influences for the project, which details the travails of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and fledgling representative Maia. Notably, the biggest presence on concept belonged to the HBO series, the program about an up-and-coming celebrity succeeding in a corrupt entertainment industry (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it amid the pandemic, became “hooked”, and decided 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 this project originated—to some extent—from firsthand, at first fractious, relocation to Tinseltown and from the cosmic event, a popular event for followers. It was a phase that involved her grasp major life lessons, in her career and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Raised in New England, Sennott commenced creating and acting humor while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She seized control, performing at live shows with Ayo and posting uproarious (and very) weird online content on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females fetishistically fixated on motherhood; a different one imagined being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being trapped in a scary movie. By chance, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately appearing in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her path, she notes, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, instead of established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, stating humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Those who were skeptical regarding Sennott earlier will surely be regretting it currently. In what she labels a “wild, full-circle” development, she appears to created her dream vehicle. A few years back she uploaded content named on LA life on the internet, in which she mocked movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a comedy about Angelenos managing the perks of internet fame (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a intoxicated thief, and potentially becoming a risky persona non grata). It would be simple to make a series about digital influence that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at its subjects. This show steers clear of each, creating a depiction of affluent young adult living that’s honest about the grot and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“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
