The star joins the digital interview and at once starts an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, appearing genuinely remorseful. She is only slightly late, 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 exactly what is ideal to experience. Moreover, it’s quite unsurprising. Those familiar with the unapologetically openly gay and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—that Sennott penned with her creative partner and featured in with her friend The Bear’s standout—will already know that Sennott holds much to say, whether about roles, intimacy, or the pros of forming a high-school brawl society. Furthermore, by the end her latest seasonal HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds further insights on the challenges of modern youth (At 30, she serves as a relatable figure for this generation, on the cusp skilled for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, naming the show alongside the classic series, Insecure and Atlanta as influences for her series, which tracks the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and close companion who is also new agent portrayed by Sennott. However, the biggest spot on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, the show focusing on a rising A-list actor making his way in a gritty entertainment industry (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it amid the pandemic, became “hooked”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The concept for the series originated—in part—from her own, initially rocky, transition to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a popular event for followers. It was a phase that included her understand significant life lessons, professionally and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Raised in New England, the star began developing and showcasing comedy while enrolled in acting at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “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.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at open mics with Edebiri and uploading uproarious (and very) bizarre comedy videos on the internet. One, Baby Cult, centered on several females obsessively fixated on having babies; a different one imagined being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being trapped in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, instead of established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, stating amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who had doubts regarding her previously will surely be kicking themselves today. In what she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. Previously she posted a video named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a show about Angelenos balancing advantages of digital stardom (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and possibly becoming a risky persona non grata). One might easy to create a program about internet celebrity that was overly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. This show does neither, creating a depiction of affluent young adult life that’s frank about the mess and the appeal.
Empathetic Approach
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” she observes. “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
