The star appears on the digital interview and at once launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming truly regretful. Despite being only slightly delayed, she feels compelled to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s precisely what is ideal to experience. Moreover, it’s quite expected. Anyone who know the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with the director and featured in with collaborator the talented actress—can already know that she has much to share, whether on identity, relationships, or the pros of creating a teen combat group. And, by the end her recent eight-part program I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds even more thoughts regarding the challenges of young adulthood (At 30, she represents a relatable figure for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for connecting both generations).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott is enthusiastic, citing the show together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for the project, which follows the journey of a social media star Tallulah and close companion who is also new talent manager Maia. However, the most significant presence on the moodboard belonged to Entourage, that program about an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in a gritty LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott began viewing it throughout lockdown, became “hooked”, and resolved to create a new version 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 notes. The concept for the series came—in part—from her own, originally fractious, relocation to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. It was a phase that saw her grasp major life lessons, professionally and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott began writing and performing humor while studying theatre 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. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott seized control, taking the stage at live shows with Edebiri and posting uproarious (and very) weird comedy videos digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters intensely obsessed with having babies; a different one envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being caught in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a funeral gathering with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her journey, she explains, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, stating amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Individuals who were skeptical regarding her earlier will certainly be regretting it now. As part of she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she has created her dream vehicle. In 2019 she shared a clip named on LA life on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a series about Angelenos managing benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being suspected of being a intoxicated thief, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). Some could tempting to produce a show about internet celebrity that was overly idealized—or, worse, one that belittled at those depicted. This show does neither, creating a portrait of privileged millennial living that’s honest about the grot 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 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
