The performer enters the online meeting and at once starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, appearing truly apologetic. Despite being only a bit behind, she feels compelled to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, during an interview, that’s exactly what one hopes to hear. Besides, it’s fairly expected. Those who have seen her boldly queer and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—which she penned with the director and starred in with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—can be aware that Sennott possesses a lot to discuss, whether about roles, sex, or the merits of starting a teen fight club. Plus, after watching her recent eight-part program I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star has further thoughts about the darker side of Gen Z life (At 30, Sennott serves as a bridge to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial skilled for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and the actress is enthusiastic, naming it in addition to the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for the project, which follows the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also new agent Sennott’s character. However, the biggest influence on creative vision was reserved for the HBO series, that program about a rising Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it during COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The inspiration for this project emerged—to some extent—from firsthand, at first fractious, move to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. It was a time that saw her grasp significant life lessons, in her career and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Raised in New England, the star started creating and acting humor while enrolled in acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “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.”
Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at amateur nights with her friend and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) weird comedy videos on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women obsessively drawn to motherhood; another envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being caught in a thriller. By chance, she met Seligman through campus film circles and ended up starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a Jewish wake with echoes of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her path, she notes, has been people her own age giving her a shot, instead of the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, adding amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Those who were skeptical about Sennott earlier will surely be kicking themselves now. Through she describes as a “incredibly circular” development, she has created the perfect project. Previously she posted a video titled about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about Angelenos managing advantages of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your client being suspected of being a substance-abusing stealer, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be tempting to produce a series about online fame that was overly idealized—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. This show does neither, creating a representation of affluent young adult life that’s honest about the mess and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
