The performer appears on the video call and immediately begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming truly regretful. She is only a bit late, she needs to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s just what one hopes to experience. Moreover, it’s quite expected. Anyone who know her fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and featured in with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would understand that she possesses a lot to say, be it about roles, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a youth combat group. And, once you finish the latest seasonal HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has further insights on the struggles of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents an honorary member of the gang, a tale-end millennial adept for bridging both generations).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott admits to being a fan, citing the show together with Sex and the City, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as influences for her series, which follows the travails of a social media star Tallulah and her friend and new talent manager Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest presence on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, the show about an up-and-coming Hollywood star navigating in an often-seedy entertainment industry (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She started watching it amid the pandemic, became “hooked”, and decided to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The concept for this project originated—partly—from personal, at first rocky, relocation to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed event for followers. This represented a phase that involved her learn major insights, in her career and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott started creating and acting stand-up while studying theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” 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 seized control, taking the stage at amateur nights with Ayo and posting hilarious (and very) unconventional online content digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters obsessively obsessed with motherhood; a different one imagined working at the brand Hollister as akin to being stuck in a horror film. By chance, she connected with Seligman through campus film circles and eventually starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she says, has been people her own age supporting her, as opposed to established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she repeats, continuing humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who had doubts about Sennott previously will surely be feeling foolish today. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she appears to achieved the perfect project. Previously she uploaded content named “it’s LA” online, in which she mocked movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about city dwellers juggling the perks of internet fame (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your associate being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and perhaps becoming a unreliable pariah). One might simple to create a show about online fame that was extremely glamorous—or, worse, one that belittled at the characters. This show avoids both, resulting in a portrait of affluent twentysomething life that’s honest about the chaos and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
