The star joins the online meeting and at once launches into an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, sounding truly regretful. She is only slightly delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, in this context, this is just what you want to experience. Besides, it’s fairly unsurprising. Those who know her unapologetically queer and brash film Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and featured in with collaborator The Bear’s standout—will already know that she holds much to discuss, be it about roles, sex, or the merits of starting a high-school brawl society. And, once you finish her recent multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds additional perspectives on the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, she serves as an honorary member to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial adept for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott is an admirer, naming the show alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as guides for her series, which follows the travails of a social media star Tallulah and her friend and aspiring agent Maia. Perhaps, the most significant presence on creative vision belonged to the HBO series, that show focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in a corrupt LA scene (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it amid lockdown, became “hooked”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective 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 explains. The inspiration for the series originated—to some extent—from her own, initially rocky, relocation to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a popular phenomenon for enthusiasts. This represented a time that involved her grasp some big insights, work-wise and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Raised in New England, the star began creating and acting humor while enrolled in theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at amateur nights with Ayo and posting uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre skits online. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women obsessively drawn to having babies; a different one portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being caught in a horror film. Interestingly, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her journey, she says, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Those who were skeptical regarding Sennott earlier will likely be feeling foolish currently. Through she describes as a “wild, full-circle” story, she appears to manifested an ideal role. In 2019 she uploaded a video called on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a comedy about city dwellers managing the perks of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being labeled as being a intoxicated stealer, and possibly becoming a unreliable pariah). Some could simple to produce a show about internet celebrity that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at the characters. The series does neither, resulting in a representation of privileged twentysomething life that’s candid about the chaos and the glamour.
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she observes. “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
A tech enthusiast and digital strategist with over a decade of experience in emerging technologies and innovation consulting.