The performer joins the digital interview and immediately launches into an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing really regretful. She is only a bit delayed, she feels compelled to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, in this context, this is precisely what you want to hear. Additionally, it’s pretty unsurprising. Anyone who know the boldly queer and outspoken project Bottoms—that she penned with Emma Seligman and appeared in together with collaborator the talented actress—will understand that she holds a lot to discuss, whether on identity, sex, or the merits of creating a high-school fight club. Plus, once you finish the recent seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she has further insights on the struggles of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she represents a relatable figure to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial skilled for straddling different age groups).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress is an admirer, citing the show alongside the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as guides for I Love LA, which follows the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. However, the largest presence on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, that program depicting a rising Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it amid COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and chose 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 this project originated—to some extent—from firsthand, at first fractious, move to LA and from her saturn return, a popular occurrence for astrology heads. It was an era that included her grasp some big truths, work-wise and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott started writing and performing humor while studying acting at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” 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, appearing at amateur nights with Edebiri and sharing hilarious (and very) weird skits digitally. One, Baby Cult, depicted characters obsessively obsessed with pregnancy; another imagined working at the brand Hollister as akin to being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through campus film circles and ended up starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her path, she says, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, instead of the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, adding humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Individuals who were skeptical regarding Sennott previously will likely be regretting it now. Through she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she has achieved the perfect project. A few years back she posted a clip called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a series about Angelenos balancing advantages of online celebrity (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your associate being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). It would be tempting to produce a program about internet celebrity that was overly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at those depicted. The series steers clear of each, creating a representation of affluent millennial living that’s frank about the grot 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 comments. “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
