The performer enters the online meeting and at once starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, seeming truly remorseful. Although she's only a bit behind, she needs to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s just what you want to hear. Moreover, it’s fairly expected. Viewers who know the fearlessly queer and brash project titled Bottoms—which Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would already know that she holds much to say, whether on identity, sex, or the appeal of creating a teen combat group. And, once you finish her recent multi-episode show I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds further insights regarding the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott represents a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp with a knack for straddling different age groups).
Influences and Creative Vision
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being an admirer, referencing it alongside Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as guides for her series, which tracks the journey of an influencer Tallulah and ally and new talent manager Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the largest spot on creative vision belonged to Entourage, the HBO sitcom about an emerging Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy LA scene (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it during COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and decided to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The inspiration for the series originated—to some extent—from firsthand, originally difficult, move to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about phenomenon for astrology heads. This represented an era that involved her grasp major life lessons, professionally and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott began creating and acting stand-up while pursuing acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She decided to act independently, performing at open mics with Ayo and sharing uproarious (and decidedly) unconventional online content digitally. One, Baby Cult, depicted characters fetishistically drawn to having babies; another portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being trapped in a scary movie. By chance, she met Seligman through campus film circles and eventually starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a religious event with hints of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her career, she explains, has been peers offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she repeats, adding humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who had doubts about her earlier will likely be kicking themselves today. Through she describes as a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she has manifested an ideal role. A few years back she uploaded a video named “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a series about LA residents juggling benefits of internet fame (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being suspected of being a substance-abusing criminal, and possibly becoming a risky pariah). One might simple to produce a series about digital influence that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at the characters. This show avoids both, creating a portrait of affluent millennial existence that’s candid about the chaos and the appeal.
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
