The star joins the video call and at once starts an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, appearing genuinely remorseful. She is only slightly late, she needs to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is just what is ideal to experience. Besides, it’s pretty expected. Anyone familiar with the fearlessly queer and outspoken film Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside her friend the talented actress—would understand that she possesses much to share, be it on gender, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a youth fight club. Plus, by the end her recent seasonal program I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries additional perspectives on the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she serves as an honorary member of the gang, straddling eras skilled for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott is enthusiastic, referencing the show in addition to the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for her series, which tracks the journey of online personality Tallulah and her friend who is also fledgling talent manager Sennott’s character. However, the largest presence on creative vision was reserved for Entourage, the program depicting an up-and-coming A-list actor succeeding in a gritty LA scene (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She began viewing it throughout the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and resolved to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The inspiration for this project came—in part—from firsthand, at first rocky, relocation to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about phenomenon for enthusiasts. This represented a time that involved her understand significant life lessons, professionally and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Growing up in New England, Sennott began developing and showcasing humor while enrolled in performance 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. 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.”
Sennott decided to act independently, performing at amateur nights with Edebiri and posting uproarious (and decidedly) weird comedy videos online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females intensely drawn to motherhood; a different one envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through campus film circles and ended up starring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a Jewish wake with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she notes, has been peers offering opportunities, instead of established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, adding humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who questioned regarding her earlier will surely be kicking themselves now. Through she describes as a “wild, full-circle” development, she has achieved the perfect project. Previously she uploaded a video named on LA life on the internet, in which she mocked film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a comedy about LA residents managing advantages of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable pariah). One might tempting to make a show about online fame that was extremely aspirational—or, worse, one that mocked at those depicted. The series steers clear of each, creating a portrait of advantaged young adult living that’s honest about the chaos 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 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
