The performer appears on the digital interview and right away begins an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming really regretful. Despite being only slightly late, she feels compelled to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, in this context, this is exactly what you want to experience. Moreover, it’s pretty expected. Those familiar with the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—which she collaborated on with her creative partner and featured in alongside close companion the talented actress—can understand that she has much to share, be it about gender, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a teen combat group. Plus, once you finish her new seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds even more thoughts on the challenges of modern youth (At 30, Sennott serves as an honorary member for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling both generations).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, citing it in addition to the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for the project, which details the struggles of online personality Tallulah and her friend and aspiring talent manager Maia. Perhaps, the most significant influence on creative vision belonged to Entourage, that HBO sitcom focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty entertainment industry (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She started watching it amid COVID-19, became “captivated”, and decided to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The idea for this project came—to some extent—from firsthand, originally fractious, transition to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed occurrence for astrology heads. That period marked a time that included her learn major life lessons, work-wise and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Growing up in New England, Sennott commenced developing and showcasing stand-up while pursuing theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at open mics with Edebiri and sharing uproarious (and decidedly) bizarre online content digitally. One, Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely drawn to having babies; another envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being stuck in a scary movie. By chance, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age giving her a shot, as opposed to traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, adding humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who questioned about her earlier will surely be feeling foolish currently. As part of she describes as a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she appears to achieved an ideal role. Previously she shared a clip called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a series about city dwellers balancing the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled thief, and possibly becoming a unreliable outcast). One might easy to make a series about online fame that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at those depicted. The series does neither, creating a representation of advantaged twentysomething living that’s frank about the grot and the glamour.
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
