The performer enters the digital interview and right away starts an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely apologetic. Although she's only slightly delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, during an interview, this is precisely what one hopes to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Anyone familiar with the boldly openly gay and outspoken movie Bottoms—which she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in together with her friend Ayo Edebiri—would already know that she possesses plenty to share, whether about gender, sex, or the pros of forming a high-school brawl society. And, by the end her recent multi-episode program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries further perspectives about the struggles of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott is an honorary member of the gang, on the cusp skilled for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress admits to being an admirer, naming the show in addition to Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as inspirations for the project, which details the struggles of online personality Tallulah and her friend and new agent Sennott’s character. However, the most significant spot on the moodboard went to the popular sitcom, the show about a rising celebrity navigating in an often-seedy Hollywood (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it throughout the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The inspiration for this project originated—partly—from her own, initially fractious, move to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a popular phenomenon for enthusiasts. It was a time that involved her understand major truths, in her career and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Raised in Connecticut, the star started creating and acting humor while enrolled in performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” 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 decided to act independently, taking the stage at amateur nights with her friend and sharing hysterical (and distinctly) bizarre skits digitally. One, Baby Cult, followed several females obsessively obsessed with motherhood; a different one envisioned being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being caught in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through campus film circles and ultimately starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the intense thriller. The central motif of her path, she says, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, stating amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who were skeptical about her earlier will surely be feeling foolish currently. Through she describes as a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she appears to achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she shared a video titled on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a series about city dwellers juggling the perks of online celebrity (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being labeled as being a drug-addled criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). It would be tempting to create a series about digital influence that was overly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at the characters. The series avoids both, making for a depiction of privileged young adult life that’s frank about the grot and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
