Rachel Sennott on the uproarious series about the grotty glamour of Gen Z existence
The performer appears on the video call and right away begins an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, sounding really apologetic. Despite being only a couple of minutes late, 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!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is exactly what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s fairly expected. Viewers who have seen her fearlessly openly gay and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—which she co-wrote with her creative partner and featured in alongside her friend the talented actress—can be aware that Sennott holds much to say, be it on identity, relationships, or the merits of starting a teen combat group. And, once you finish her recent seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star carries further insights on the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, she represents a relatable figure of the gang, a tale-end millennial skilled for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, citing it together with Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as guides for her series, which details the journey of online personality Tallulah and ally who is also new agent portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the largest spot on the moodboard was reserved for Entourage, the show about an up-and-coming A-list actor making his way in an often-seedy LA scene (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it during lockdown, became “hooked”, and decided to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The inspiration for this project emerged—to some extent—from her own, at first rocky, transition to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed event for followers. This represented a time that included her learn significant insights, work-wise and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in New England, Sennott commenced writing and performing comedy while pursuing performance at a prestigious arts school. “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. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and sharing hilarious (and distinctly) weird online content online. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively drawn to pregnancy; another envisioned being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being caught in a thriller. Interestingly, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her path, she notes, has been peers offering opportunities, instead of the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, stating with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Anyone who were skeptical about her previously will certainly be kicking themselves currently. Through she describes as a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have created her dream vehicle. In 2019 she shared a video called about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she mocked movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a comedy about LA residents juggling the perks of digital stardom (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your associate being suspected of being a substance-abusing stealer, and possibly becoming a risky pariah). It would be tempting to produce a program about internet celebrity that was overly idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. The series steers clear of each, creating a portrait of affluent millennial existence that’s candid about the mess and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
