Rachel Sennott on the side-splitting series portraying the messy allure of Gen Z existence
The performer enters the online meeting and right away begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, sounding truly remorseful. Despite being only slightly late, she needs to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, in this context, that’s just what one hopes to experience. Besides, it’s quite unsurprising. Anyone who have seen her boldly openly gay and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—that she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in with her friend the talented actress—can already know that she has much to discuss, be it about identity, sex, or the appeal of creating a youth combat group. And, after watching her new multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has further perspectives about the challenges of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she serves as an honorary member of the gang, straddling eras skilled for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being a fan, referencing the show alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and the innovative program as guides for the project, which follows the travails of a social media star Tallulah and close companion and fledgling agent Sennott’s character. However, the largest spot on concept was reserved for the popular sitcom, that show depicting a rising celebrity making his way in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it amid lockdown, became “hooked”, 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 says. The idea for the series originated—partly—from her own, at first fractious, move to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for enthusiasts. That period marked a phase that saw her grasp major insights, work-wise and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott started creating and acting stand-up while studying performance at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at open mics with her friend and sharing hysterical (and distinctly) unconventional online content digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on several females fetishistically obsessed with pregnancy; another imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being caught in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and eventually featuring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her career, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, as opposed to the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, stating humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who were skeptical regarding Sennott previously will likely be feeling foolish currently. As part of she calls a “incredibly circular” development, she has created her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted a clip titled “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she lampooned movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a comedy about LA residents balancing the perks of digital stardom (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your associate being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). One might simple to produce a series about digital influence that was horribly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at those depicted. The series does neither, making for a depiction of privileged twentysomething living that’s honest about the mess and the appeal.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” she observes. “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