It was the summer after Rachel Sennott attended her first Met Gala, riding high off the kind of early filmography that would make an agent’s eyes water—with Shiva Baby, Bodies Bodies Bodies, and Bottoms released one year after the next. It was the summer she had her comedy pilot ordered by HBO, cut her hair into a bob, starred in director Ally Pankiw’s dark comedy I Used to Be Funny, and presided over a coven of Internet hot girls in Charli XCX’s instantly viral “360” music video.
The British singer’s notoriety soared for months off the back of her hit album, TikTok trends, and a repartee with presidential nominee Kamala Harris that had news anchors explaining “brat summer” to Middle America on prime time. There next to Sennott—popping bottles and enjoying “writhing-around-on-the-floor kind of nights”—was Charli. Once the drinks were cleared away and the post-party film was developed, the two sat down for a debrief about the hottest summer on record.
Charli XCX: Hello, is this being recorded?
Rachel Sennott: Not for image.
Charli XCX: Okay, great. I did a photo shoot yesterday and they dyed my eyebrows blonde, but then they dyed them back really dark. It’s Ugly Betty vibes.
Sennott: Honestly, that’s what my brows look like all the time. It’s kind of a serve.
Charli XCX: You looked so hot on Saturday, by the way.
Sennott: I had so much fun. We did our photo shoot [for CULTURED’s September cover] and I took one of the dresses—it’s been returned, it’s totally fine—then I went to your house and had a crazy night. The next day I was looking at all the photos from the shoot like, Was that me naked in the dress with the hose?
Charli XCX: Were you hungover after Saturday?
Sennott: 100 percent. I also didn’t eat all day because of the photo shoot, and then I had to do a reshoot for Saturday Night [a forthcoming film detailing the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live]. I’m like, Shit, I wish I could have my, like, photo shoot glam, but instead I had my ’70s hair.
Charli XCX: It was so cute.
Sennott: Maybe that’s my new vibe. After the photo shoot I came home and started drinking immediately and changed and was like, “I’m ready to go!” But the next day I ordered a big-ass burrito and had a lazy fucking day. I hung out with Molly [Gordon].
Charli XCX: I love. I don’t remember much, but I do remember having a really fun time in the bathroom with you guys peeing.
Sennott: I just remember that we had a beautiful moment. I haven’t had a weekend like that in so long, where you have the most fun on Saturday and then all of Sunday you just sit around and think, That was so much fun!
Charli XCX: So how’s it been living in the ’70s? Were you guys on the official SNL set or was it a build?
Sennott: Initially, I thought, Obviously it’ll be in New York. Cut to Georgia—not even Atlanta—upstate Georgia. They did a complete rebuild of the studio. Honestly it was a little eerie, being in the middle of nowhere, but it’s exactly like 30 Rock. There were pieces of it that they did in New York, though.
Charli XCX: Did you grow up watching SNL?
Sennott: I did. Lorne Michaels always says that everyone’s favorite SNL is the version you grew up watching. When I was growing up, it was Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig, Tina Fey. The girls were having their moment, and so of course that’s my favorite. Did you watch it growing up too?
Charli XCX: To be honest, it’s not as much of a thing in the U.K. The first time I performed on SNL in 2014, I was so hungover because I’d been out the night before. I was like, “Why are there so many rehearsals?” I just didn’t get how much of a big deal it was. Then, when I did it again, I was so scared because I’d started to watch the show; I was literally shaking. Now, I’ve watched it, and I get it. I love the Bill Hader “Stefon” era—that kind of vibe.
Sennott: I’m obsessed with you going on the first time being like, “Sure, what is this?” And then the second time being like, “Fuck.”
Charli XCX: Maybe this is a dumb question, but would you wanna host? I feel like you would be so good.
Sennott: Obviously, they have to put us on together. I’m just gonna say that out loud—that would be the best show ever. Hosting is my dream; I think it would be so fun. So many people that I went to school with are now writers on the show and I feel like we would have a great time, especially since I’ve been in that kind of space with Saturday Night.
Halfway through filming, I went to an SNL show and sat with my friends, Ben [Marshall] and Martin [Herlihy] and John [Higgins], and Lorne was there. They were like, “Rachel’s playing Rosie [Shuster, comedian and Michaels’s ex-wife] in this movie.” And then obviously, I’m like, I have to make Lorne Michaels fall in love with me. He’s like 80. I’m asking him, “Am I giving your ex-wife?” He’s like, “Yeah, sure.”
Charli XCX: Did you know growing up that you wanted to be a writer? Did you always want to be this quadruple threat: actor, writer, comedian, director? I mean, she does it all, people.
Sennott: I was always making my siblings perform in the worst videos. I remember when my grandma got diagnosed with cancer, I made a movie about it—by the way, so annoying of me to be like, “Let me make this about me.” I make everyone do a movie about it, and I show it to her and she’s like, “What the hell is this?” I just instantly started creating stuff. I did a “Paparazzi” Lady Gaga music video. That was a way of creating and writing and directing. I would have everybody sign contracts.
Charli XCX: Oh, wow.
Sennott: Sadistic, so evil. I would add things to the contract after they signed like, “You have to listen to the director.” I was just bullying my siblings. I have four siblings, which is all you need for a good play—five people, easy. In the middle of the day, I would just scream from the top of the stairs, “Rehearsal! Rehearsal now!” And then everyone would come running. And that’s still how I run my sets.
Charli XCX: I have a few friends who are writers and some of them are working on 15 projects at a time and some of them spend 10 years working on one thing. What’s your process?
Sennott: I’m working in multiple worlds until I’m not. Before the pilot got ordered, I was working on my show and I was writing a movie. Then, once I’m like, “Okay, now we’re doing the show,” I’m all in. It’s a nice feeling when you’re so engulfed in something creatively. Right now, I feel very in the show, which is cool; it’s been so fun to just fully dive into that world and get sucked into it.
Charli XCX: How’s it going with the show? I remember when it got announced, everybody was like, “Rachel Sennott is doing a TV show!” The Internet is so excited.
Sennott: We’re in the edit right now, so I’ve been in a dark cave. It’s such a different part of the process where you’re in a dark room being like, “Should we make this a four-frame instead of six-frame?” It feels like I’m doing math, and I’m like, “What is this?” But I’m so excited. The response made me really happy. It’s very vulnerable. The show, like everything I write, is so personal to me. When we cut the pilot together, I was like, “I need people to see this right now.” That’s how excited I feel.
Charli XCX: I’m not sure exactly how to phrase this, but I feel like you’re very much at the forefront of this new kind of way to be a woman. That feels so gross saying it…
Sennott: You found a way to be a woman— ew! [Laughs]
Charli XCX: Do you know what I mean? I feel like people lump us in the same category, which I love…
Sennott: Any time I’m tagged next to you in a photo, I’m literally like, “Oh yeah!”
Charli XCX: I’m obsessed. But to boil it down to something simpler. That type of woman lacked representation for a while. How do you feel about that? Do you feel like there’s this expectation for you to be a certain way all the time? From my perspective, I definitely feel that there’s this expectation for me to be partying constantly. Everything on the Internet gets amped up so much that people are just like, “We need it from you all the time.” Do you feel like people need you to be “Rachel Sennott,” or whoever they think Rachel Sennott is, all the time?
Sennott: I had this persona on Twitter when I was in my early 20s that was very real, but then I got to this place where I was sort of like, I don’t know if that’s fully me anymore. I stopped doing stand-up, I deleted my Twitter, I felt like I cut the cord between me and everyone. There’s things that are happening in my life that are different from the things that were happening when I was 22. I’m not still talking about dating a 30-year-old—I’m almost a 30-year-old. I almost felt like, What do I have to talk about?
Then I realized there are all these other things that have been happening in my life and that’s what I’m putting into the show now. People take something you put out there and then they assume that one thing is the entirety of who you are, even though it’s not. But, of course, it’s hard to say all that. I can’t call every single person on Twitter every day. I’m growing and changing and being able to show that to people is exciting. But the in-between is hard. The last couple of years I felt a little stuck. I was like, Wait, I’m not that, but I don’t know what I am next. I think I’ve found it.
Charli XCX: Totally. I’m beginning to be at peace with the fact that some people are going to perceive me as only one thing. Sometimes, I also want to call every single person on Twitter. But it’s just like, you can’t.
Sennott: Everyone is complicated. There’s layers and some people are just going to see one layer, but we know who we are.
Charli XCX: We know! We have time for one more question, so I’m gonna ask the most obvious, stupid question ever. Will you die in LA or in New York?
Sennott: I’ve never been asked that. I’m shocked.
Charli XCX: Or are you going like, Middle America? I feel like you’re dying in LA or in New York.
Sennott: I have to die close to my family, which is on the East Coast. If I die of old age, I think I’ll die in New York, and hopefully I’ll be with my family. But there’s something about LA that’s a little haunted. I’m like, “I could be murdered here.”
Charli XCX: I hope you don’t get murdered, but anything can happen.
Sennott: Fingers crossed.
Charli XCX: Hopefully, you die of old age in New York.
Sennott: That would be so lovely. Where are you dying?
Charli XCX: I’m probably dying in the U.K. I think it’s cheaper.
Sennott: Oh my god.
Production by Photobomb Production
Modeling by Lauren Fern
Hair by Ramsell Martinez
Makeup by Lilly Keys
Set Design by Daniel Horowitz
Photography Assistance by Garey Quinn and Sabrina Victoria
Styling Assistance by Ashley Weiler-Sandoval
Set Design Assistance by Ronnie Burress and Veronica Franzen
