Rachel Sennott is an American producer, writer and actor who has been climbing the Hollywood ladder for the past few years, coming from the world of comedy. Today, she is a chic, capri-pant and casual-heel wearing, boss woman that has been a part of recent cinema and pop culture moments that will be imprinted on society forever. Her recent successful projects are simply new installments to her repertoire of jobs that have prepared her for the scale at which she works now. We will be unpacking her career, excavating where she’s been and projecting where she’s going. By the way, there will be minor spoilers.
April 9, 2026, Netflix released the first episode of the series “Big Mistakes,” created by Rachel Sennott and Dan Levy. The undeniably comedic series features “Schitt’s Creek” star, and multi-hyphenate Emmy award winner, Daniel Levy playing Nicky, a gay pastor that accidently gets wrapped up in the Italian mafia alongside his far more rebellious and cunning school teaching sister, Morgan, which is played by actress and writer Taylor Ortega.
The duo constantly have annoying banter that somehow doesn’t get them killed by the dangerous characters that disrupt their civil servant lives. This show most notably explores moral ambiguity through the characters questioning their own status as good people, as well as other people’s. Between Nicky living a double life as a pastor and mafia errand runner, and his mother, Linda, played by Laurie Metcalf, attempting to win a “clean campaign” for mayor in the face of adversity, the morality of the characters is consistently being evaluated.
In all, “Big Mistakes” is an action-packed comedy series that received a slightly above average IMDB rating of 7.2/10. Rachel Sennott created, wrote, and served as the executive producer for “Big Mistakes”, making it a work that is greatly influenced by her past projects.
Sennott wrote, executively produced, and starred in the 2023 teen satire movie, “Bottoms.” This rated R film, directed by Emma Seligman, centers around two unpopular and queer high school seniors that start a woman’s after-school fight club in order to achieve their goal of losing their virginity before the year commences. Verified Rotten Tomato critic, Rua Fay, commented that, “Bottoms” is absolutely riddled with raunchy, absurdist comedy that could make your Catholic grandmother laugh. Perhaps the film’s strongest attribute is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It starts with two teenagers getting ready to go to a carnival and ends with a literal death battle…what’s not to love?”
The latter part of the review reminds me of similar plot occurrences as “Big Mistakes.” For instance, the first episode immediately begins with Nicky and Morgan being sent to the store to buy their dying grandma a gift before she dies because their supposedly perfect sister got her a great gift. The series immediately drops the viewer into a confrontational and imperfect family bickering about gifts in front of their dead grandma, but the episode ends with Nicky and Morgan being kidnapped by a mafia member at their grandma’s funeral. The “Bottoms” plot and this structure both masterfully couple mundane real-life, that is often comedic unintentionally, with disastrous events that contrast or exaggerate feasible reality. This is an undeniable key to success; morphing reality with fantasy.
Her works are also improved by her usage of satire. The two lesbian teens in bottoms, PJ, played by Rachel Sennott, and Josie, played by Ayo Edebiri, are visually and verbally misfit, normal girls that genuinely just want to be with their crushes (fantasies every teen shares) they just happen to have to fight off a girl’s hilariously dumb, star football player, boyfriend and pursue a deceptively straight popular girl. This great usage of satirical comedy isn’t luck though, it is a product of Sennott’s comedy background.
Sennott studied acting at New York University Tisch School of the Arts and Stella Adler Studio of Acting, graduating in 2017. Whilst studying in New York, Sennott did stand-up comedy, but it was after she graduated when she created the 2018 shows, “Puke Fest” and “Ur Gonna Sleep Rlly Well Tonight”. These shows were featured on her social media during the Covid-19, which increased her traction, popularity, and recognition as a working comedian.
Following these online shows, Sennott created Comedy Central series, like “Ayo and Rachel Are Single” alongside fellow NYU Tisch student, Ayo Edebiri, who studied dramatic writing. During covid, Sennott heavily produced comedic work that led her to be picked up by various feature films once the world opened back up in 2022.
Her strong acting foundation and years grinding in New York’s comedy scene prepared her for the projects that followed and that are present today. After the 2022 slasher comedy, “Bodies Bodies Bodies” was released, Sennott told Polyester Magazine that, “Before, the work was very much me being like, go to the open mic, write your script, make some little sketches with your friends. Now it’s like, come to work because we need you.”
Ever since that point, her momentum virtually never ceased. It led her to landing dream jobs, like her 2025 HBO series, “I Love LA.” This series can’t help but make it feel like a culmination of all of her hard work, which is evident in many ways. Firstly, some of her close friends have features in the show, like Ayo Edebiri and Odessa A’zion. Secondly, Sennott is the sole creator of the show, a writer, and stars in the series; each role fulfills her long-running ambitions.
Outlined in an interview with Rachel Cantor in 2018, Sennott, who was mainly known as a comedian at the time said, “Ideally, I want to be writing and acting in my own stuff, and then doing [comedy] shows as well.” Lastly, the satirical plot, that contains a group of friends attempting to follow ambitions in the face of change and the performative environment of Los Angeles that awards people for assuming false characters, is unmistakingly reflective of her own trials and tribulations in the entertainment industry, in her past and current development.
Sennott is at the top of her game, not only through her projects, but image as a whole. Just days ago, she was announced as the image for Marc Jacobs’ pre-Fall 2026 campaign, writing and starring; even in the fashion world, Rachel Sennott is acknowledged as a force to be reckoned with. If there’s anything to gather from this piece it’s that: Rachel Sennott has had an impressive trajectory fueled by her ambition, one that is truly inspiring for future storytellers.
