The comedic talent on her uproarious comedy depicting the grotty appeal of Gen Z existence
Rachel Sennott joins the digital interview and immediately launches into an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, appearing really regretful. Although she's only slightly delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s just what you want to encounter. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Anyone who have seen the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and outspoken project titled Bottoms—which Sennott penned with the director and starred in with collaborator The Bear’s standout—can already know that she has a lot to say, whether on roles, sex, or the merits of starting a youth fight club. And, by the end the recent multi-episode show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she carries additional insights on the challenges of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott is a bridge to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott is an admirer, naming it together with the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which details the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. However, the most significant presence on the moodboard was reserved for Entourage, the program depicting an up-and-coming celebrity succeeding in an often-seedy LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it throughout COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and decided to put her own twist 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 this project came—to some extent—from firsthand, initially rocky, move to LA and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that involved her grasp major truths, work-wise and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Brought up in Connecticut, the star started writing and performing comedy while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “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. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She seized control, performing at live shows with her friend and posting hysterical (and very) weird skits digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on characters fetishistically obsessed with having babies; another imagined working at the brand Hollister as akin to being stuck in a horror film. Interestingly, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the intense thriller. The big theme of her path, she explains, has been peers offering opportunities, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she repeats, adding with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who had doubts regarding Sennott then will surely be kicking themselves now. Through she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she appears to created an ideal role. In 2019 she posted a clip named on LA life on social media, in which she lampooned movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a show about LA residents balancing advantages of digital stardom (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and potentially becoming a unreliable pariah). Some could simple to create a program about internet celebrity that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA steers clear of each, making for a depiction of privileged young adult life that’s candid about the chaos and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“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
