Rachel Sennott on her side-splitting series portraying that chaotic glamour of Gen Z existence

The performer enters the online meeting and at once launches into an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing really apologetic. Despite being only slightly behind, she needs to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, in this context, this is precisely what is ideal to encounter. Besides, it’s fairly unsurprising. Viewers who know the boldly openly gay and outspoken project Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and featured in together with collaborator the talented actress—will understand that Sennott has a lot to say, whether about roles, relationships, or the appeal of forming a teen brawl society. Furthermore, once you finish her recent multi-episode show titled I Love LA, it is clear that she has additional thoughts on the struggles of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she represents a relatable figure of the gang, a tale-end millennial skilled for bridging millennials and Gen Z).

Inspirations and Storytelling Approach

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, citing it together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for her series, which follows the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and her friend and aspiring representative Maia. Perhaps, the biggest influence on the moodboard belonged to Entourage, that HBO sitcom focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in a corrupt Hollywood (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott started watching it during the pandemic, became “captivated”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.

“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The concept for the series came—partly—from personal, originally fractious, transition to LA and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about phenomenon for astrology heads. It was a time that involved her grasp some big life lessons, 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. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Starting Out

Raised in Connecticut, the star started creating and acting stand-up while enrolled in performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”

She took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at live shows with Ayo and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) weird skits on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted characters obsessively fixated on having babies; another envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being trapped in a scary movie. By chance, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a funeral gathering with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her path, she explains, has been people her own age supporting her, instead of traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she repeats, adding with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Career Breakthrough

Those who had doubts regarding her earlier will certainly be feeling foolish today. As part of she labels a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to achieved the perfect project. In 2019 she posted content called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she mocked film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a series about Angelenos balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your associate being labeled as being a substance-abusing criminal, and possibly becoming a unreliable outcast). One might simple to create a series about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. This show does neither, making for a portrait of privileged twentysomething life that’s candid about the mess and the shine.

Nuanced Portrayal

“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she comments. “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

Julie Mitchell
Julie Mitchell

Maya Chen is a tech journalist and innovation strategist with over a decade of experience covering digital transformation and startup ecosystems.