The performer enters the online meeting and right away begins an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, sounding truly apologetic. She is only a couple of minutes behind, she feels compelled 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, for a writer, that’s precisely what you want to experience. Besides, it’s fairly predictable. Anyone familiar with the boldly queer and outspoken film titled Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in with her friend The Bear’s standout—can understand that Sennott possesses a lot to share, ranging from about identity, relationships, or the merits of creating a youth combat group. Plus, once you finish the recent multi-episode show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds additional insights on the struggles of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott serves as an honorary member for this generation, on the cusp skilled for straddling different age groups).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and the actress is a fan, referencing it together with the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as influences for her series, which follows the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and new talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the most significant presence on the moodboard belonged to Entourage, the program depicting a rising Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty entertainment industry (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She started watching it during COVID-19, became “hooked”, and chose to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“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 emerged—to some extent—from her own, originally rocky, move to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a popular occurrence for followers. It was an era that saw her grasp major truths, professionally and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in the East Coast, the star started writing and performing stand-up while pursuing acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She seized control, performing at live shows with Ayo and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) bizarre skits digitally. One, Baby Cult, centered on several females obsessively drawn to pregnancy; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being trapped in a scary movie. By chance, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and ultimately starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a religious event with hints of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her career, she explains, has been contemporaries supporting her, as opposed to traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she repeats, stating amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who had doubts regarding Sennott then will likely be kicking themselves currently. In what she calls a “astonishingly complete” development, she seems to have created the perfect project. In 2019 she uploaded a video named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she mocked film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about LA residents managing benefits of internet fame (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be simple to produce a program about digital influence that was horribly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. The series avoids both, making for a portrait of privileged young adult life that’s frank 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 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
