The performer enters the video call and right away starts an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, sounding really regretful. Despite being only slightly late, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is just what is ideal to experience. Besides, it’s quite expected. Viewers familiar with the boldly LGBTQ+ and outspoken project Bottoms—that Sennott penned with the director and featured in together with close companion Ayo Edebiri—will already know that she has plenty to share, whether on roles, sex, or the merits of forming a high-school combat group. And, by the end the recent seasonal HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that the star carries even more insights about the darker side of modern youth (At 30, she serves as a relatable figure of the gang, straddling eras skilled for connecting different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress admits to being a fan, citing the show alongside the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as inspirations for the project, which follows the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also aspiring representative portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the biggest presence on concept was reserved for the HBO series, the HBO sitcom focusing on a rising Hollywood star navigating in a gritty LA scene (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it during COVID-19, became “hooked”, and chose to add a fresh perspective 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 says. The inspiration for this project emerged—in part—from her own, initially rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about occurrence for astrology heads. It was a phase that involved her grasp some big truths, work-wise and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott commenced creating and acting stand-up while enrolled in performance at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She took matters into her own hands, appearing at open mics with her friend and sharing hilarious (and decidedly) weird comedy videos online. One, Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively drawn to having babies; another portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being caught in a scary movie. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. The central motif of her career, she explains, has been peers supporting her, rather than traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, adding with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who were skeptical regarding her then will surely be kicking themselves today. Through she labels a “astonishingly complete” development, she seems to have achieved an ideal role. Previously she uploaded a video called on LA life online, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a show about LA residents balancing the perks of internet fame (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing thief, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). Some could tempting to create a series about online fame that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at the characters. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a representation of privileged young adult living that’s honest about the mess and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
