The star enters the video call and at once begins an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, seeming genuinely apologetic. Despite being only a bit late, she needs to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, in this context, this is just what one hopes to encounter. Besides, it’s quite expected. Viewers familiar with her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and brash project Bottoms—that she penned with Emma Seligman and appeared in together with her friend the talented actress—can understand that she possesses much to discuss, whether about gender, sex, or the appeal of forming a high-school fight club. And, after watching the recent seasonal HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds further insights on the struggles of modern youth (Now in her thirties, she serves as a relatable figure to younger audiences, straddling eras with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, citing the show alongside the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as guides for the project, which details the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and aspiring representative portrayed by Sennott. However, the largest presence on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, the HBO sitcom focusing on a rising A-list actor succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it throughout lockdown, became “hooked”, and decided to put her own twist 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 explains. The idea for this project originated—to some extent—from firsthand, at first fractious, transition to LA and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about event for enthusiasts. That period marked an era that included her learn major insights, in her career and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott started writing and performing stand-up while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She decided to act independently, appearing at open mics with Edebiri and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) weird skits on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed several females fetishistically drawn to motherhood; another portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a scary movie. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a religious event with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her career, she notes, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, continuing with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who questioned regarding her then will likely be kicking themselves today. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” development, she seems to have achieved an ideal role. A few years back she posted a clip titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she lampooned film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a show about city dwellers juggling benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a intoxicated stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable outcast). One might tempting to create a series about digital influence that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at the characters. The series does neither, resulting in a representation of affluent millennial life that’s candid about the chaos and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
