Rachel Sennott discussing the hilarious show portraying that chaotic allure of Gen Z life

The performer joins the digital interview and at once starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, appearing genuinely apologetic. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, she feels compelled to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s precisely what one hopes to experience. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone familiar with her fearlessly openly gay and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—that she penned with the director and starred in together with close companion Ayo Edebiri—can be aware that she has much to share, be it about gender, sex, or the merits of forming a youth combat group. Plus, once you finish her recent multi-episode show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star holds additional insights about the darker side of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she represents a bridge of the gang, straddling eras with a knack for connecting both generations).

Influences and Creative Vision

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, citing it together with the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which details the struggles of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and new talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the biggest spot on concept was reserved for the HBO series, that program depicting an up-and-coming A-list actor navigating in an often-seedy entertainment industry (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott began viewing it during COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The idea for this project came—partly—from personal, originally rocky, move to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a frequently discussed occurrence for astrology heads. That period marked a time that saw her learn some big truths, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Starting Out

Brought up in Connecticut, the star started creating and acting stand-up while enrolled in performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “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 decided to act independently, appearing at open mics with her friend and posting hysterical (and decidedly) weird comedy videos digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women fetishistically obsessed with pregnancy; another envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a thriller. By chance, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a funeral gathering with shades of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her career, she says, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, stating amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”

Career Breakthrough

Anyone who questioned about Sennott earlier will surely be feeling foolish currently. In what she labels a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she appears to manifested an ideal role. A few years back she shared content titled “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a show about LA residents balancing benefits of internet fame (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and possibly becoming a risky pariah). Some could easy to make a show about digital influence that was horribly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that punched down at those depicted. I Love LA does neither, creating a portrait of privileged millennial existence that’s frank about the grot and the appeal.

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 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

Mark Lewis
Mark Lewis

A technology strategist with over a decade of experience in digital transformation and software architecture, passionate about emerging tech trends.