The performer joins the digital interview and at once launches into an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, appearing genuinely regretful. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, during an interview, this is precisely what you want to encounter. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Those who know the unapologetically queer and brash project titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside collaborator the talented actress—will be aware that she has much to share, whether on identity, relationships, or the pros of starting a high-school fight club. Furthermore, once you finish the latest multi-episode show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star holds further thoughts about the challenges of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott represents a bridge of the gang, a tale-end millennial skilled for connecting different age groups).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Parallels to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, naming it in addition to Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for the project, which tracks the struggles of online personality Tallulah and her friend and fledgling talent manager Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest spot on the moodboard went to Entourage, that show focusing on a rising celebrity making his way in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it throughout lockdown, became “captivated”, and resolved to create a new version 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 notes. The inspiration for this project emerged—in part—from personal, initially rocky, move to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a popular occurrence for astrology heads. It was a phase that included her learn some big life lessons, work-wise and personally. “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. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced creating and acting comedy while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at amateur nights with her friend and uploading hilarious (and very) weird comedy videos online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted characters intensely obsessed with having babies; another imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a scary movie. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a religious event with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her journey, she explains, has been peers giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she confirms, stating with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who had doubts about Sennott earlier will likely be feeling foolish now. As part of she calls a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she appears to achieved the perfect project. In 2019 she posted a video called about Los Angeles online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a series about city dwellers managing advantages of digital stardom (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being labeled as being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). One might simple to create a program about digital influence that was overly idealized—or, more problematic, one that punched down at its subjects. This show does neither, resulting in a representation of advantaged young adult living that’s honest about the grot and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
