The star enters the digital interview and immediately launches into an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, appearing really apologetic. She is only a couple of minutes delayed, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is exactly what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s quite unsurprising. Anyone who have seen the fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in with her friend Ayo Edebiri—can understand that she has much to share, be it about gender, intimacy, or the appeal of forming a teen combat group. And, once you finish the latest eight-part program I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star carries even more insights on the struggles of young adulthood (At 30, she serves as a relatable figure for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for connecting both generations).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges enthusiastic, citing it alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and Atlanta as influences for the project, which details the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the most significant spot on the moodboard was reserved for Entourage, that show depicting a rising celebrity succeeding in a corrupt LA scene (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it throughout COVID-19, became “captivated”, and decided to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The idea for the series originated—to some extent—from firsthand, initially difficult, transition to LA and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about event for astrology heads. It was a time that involved her grasp major truths, work-wise and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Growing up in the East Coast, the star started creating and acting comedy while studying acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She decided to act independently, performing at live shows with Edebiri and uploading uproarious (and decidedly) bizarre skits on the internet. One, Baby Cult, centered on a group of women obsessively obsessed with motherhood; a different one envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being trapped in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a Jewish wake with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her journey, she explains, has been peers giving her a shot, rather than traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who were skeptical regarding Sennott earlier will surely be regretting it currently. In what she describes as a “astonishingly complete” story, she seems to have created the perfect project. Previously she posted a clip named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about Angelenos managing the perks of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). One might tempting to produce a program about digital influence that was extremely glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at the characters. This show does neither, creating a depiction of advantaged millennial life that’s honest about the mess and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” she says. “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
