🔗 Share this article

The performer appears on the video call and right away starts an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, sounding truly apologetic. She is only slightly behind, she needs to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, in this context, this is just what is ideal to hear. Moreover, it’s quite unsurprising. Viewers familiar with her boldly LGBTQ+ and outspoken project Bottoms—that she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and appeared in with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would understand that Sennott has plenty to say, whether on identity, relationships, or the merits of creating a high-school fight club. Plus, once you finish her latest eight-part program I Love LA, viewers realize that the star carries further insights on the struggles of Gen Z life (At 30, Sennott is an honorary member for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for straddling different age groups).

Inspirations and Storytelling Approach

Likenesses to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being a fan, naming the show in addition to the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as influences for her series, which details the journey of a social media star Tallulah and close companion who is also new agent portrayed by Sennott. However, the biggest influence on the moodboard was reserved for the HBO series, that program depicting an up-and-coming A-list actor making his way in a corrupt Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it throughout COVID-19, became “hooked”, and decided to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The inspiration for the series originated—in part—from firsthand, at first rocky, move to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed occurrence for enthusiasts. This represented a time that saw her learn significant insights, professionally and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” 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 …”

Early Beginnings

Growing up in New England, Sennott began developing and showcasing stand-up while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “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. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

Sennott took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at live shows with Edebiri and sharing uproarious (and very) unconventional skits on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely fixated on having babies; another imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a horror film. By chance, she connected with Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually starring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the intense thriller. The big theme of her journey, she explains, has been people her own age supporting her, as opposed to traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Career Breakthrough

Those who questioned about Sennott then will likely be kicking themselves today. Through she describes as a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she appears to manifested the perfect project. Previously she uploaded a video named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she mocked movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a show about Angelenos managing the perks of internet fame (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your associate being labeled as being a intoxicated thief, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). One might easy to make a program about online fame that was overly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at those depicted. This show does neither, creating a depiction of advantaged millennial living that’s frank about the grot and the glamour.

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