Sennott, who previously appeared in the gem of a movie Shiva Baby (2020) and the film Bodies, Bodies, Bodies (2022), is also a stand-up comedian and social media fan fav. The television series wasn’t her first rodeo—but it was her wildest ride to date. That is until the recent release of Bottoms, a riotous film co-written with Emma Seligman, that affirms the budding comedy star’s steady hold—or should we say headlock?— on Hollywood.

GEN V: So what is Bottoms about?

RACHEL SENNOTT: A rumor starts about these two girls that they went to juvie over the summer and they kind of use it to start a fight club for girls at their school. It’s supposed for female empowerment, but it’s actually so that they can hook up with cheerleaders.

GEN V: How did the idea for such a funny concept come about?

RS: Emma [Seligman] and I wrote it together. We met when I did the short film version of Shiva Baby. After we finished, we met up for lunch and she said, “I wanna write a really campy sex comedy…. I wanna do American Pie, but for girls.” And I was like, “I Iove that idea.” I really wanted to do comedy with women where the characters are allowed to just be.

I feel like sometimes with female comedies, anything where writers are trying to represent women, they think that the characters have to be perfect people. What we wanted going in was for ours to not be perfect. So that’s where the genesis of the idea came from. Then we just worked on it every day. We went to the basement of this business building where there were really big whiteboards and we wrote out everything we wanted in the movie: We want a bomb, we want girls punching each other, we want a scene where they egg a house. From that came the movie.

GEN V: You seem like someone who’s gotten into some street fights in your time. How much of your own experience did you bring to the film?

RS: I am not a fighter at all, but we did do a boot camp before we shot the movie. We got there two weeks before we started shooting and got all the girls in the fight club together. We had our stunt coordinator teach us all these different moves and it was really a bonding experience. It was our first time meeting and we just went right into pushing each other onto mats and stuff.

GEN V: Okay, so not a physical fighter, but say you’re in an argument with somebody. What type of fighter are you?

RS: I just say why I’m upset. Over-communication is my weapon of choice.

GEN V: Bottoms is set in high school, with all its social complexities, big emotions, and hormones. What was it like to revisit that environment as a twenty-something?

RS: I think it was fun. Honestly, I didn’t have a horrible time in high school, but I didn’t have a good time either. I feel like the best comedy comes from things that were hard for you at one point or another. Going back later and being able to laugh at them feels great.

 

This cover story appears in the pages of GEN V (Issue 3): now available to purchase!

Photography Jack Bridgland

Fashion Nicola Formichetti

Creative Director Stephen Gan

Editor-In-Chief Mathias Rosenzweig

DP Mynxii White

Makeup Sarah Tanno (Forward Artists)

Hair Bobby Eliot (The Wall Group)

Manicure Jolene Brodeur (The Wall Group) using APRÉS NAIL

Executive producer Dana Brockman (viewfinders)

Production manager Frank DeCaro (viewfinders)

Producers Robbi Chong, Din Morris (viewfinders)

Digital technician DJ Dohar

Lighting technician Ryan Hackett

Photo assistants Adam Matijasevic, Ricky Steel

Stylist assistant Brianna Dooley

Makeup assistants Phuong Tran, Ghost

Hair assistant Arbana Dollani