The star enters the video call and at once begins an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, seeming really regretful. She is only a bit late, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, in this context, that’s precisely what is ideal to hear. Besides, it’s pretty predictable. Those familiar with her fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—which Sennott penned with the director and featured in alongside close companion the talented actress—will already know that Sennott holds much to share, ranging from on identity, relationships, or the merits of starting a teen combat group. And, once you finish the recent multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds even more perspectives regarding the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents an honorary member for this generation, on the cusp skilled for connecting both generations).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being an admirer, naming it in addition to the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for her series, which follows the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also new representative Maia. Notably, the biggest influence on creative vision was reserved for the HBO series, the program focusing on a rising Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy LA scene (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it throughout the pandemic, became “hooked”, and decided to put her own twist 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 says. The idea for this project originated—partly—from personal, initially fractious, relocation to LA and from the saturn return, a popular phenomenon for enthusiasts. That period marked an era that saw her understand some big insights, professionally and individually. “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 was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced creating and acting stand-up while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “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. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She seized control, appearing at open mics with Edebiri and uploading hysterical (and very) unconventional comedy videos digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women fetishistically obsessed with pregnancy; a different one imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a horror film. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a religious event with hints of the intense thriller. The central motif of her career, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, rather than the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who questioned regarding her previously will likely be regretting it currently. Through she labels a “wild, full-circle” development, she appears to manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she shared content named on LA life on the internet, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a series about Angelenos juggling advantages of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your client being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and possibly becoming a risky persona non grata). One might easy to create a program about digital influence that was overly glamorous—or, worse, one that punched down at those depicted. The series avoids both, making for a representation of privileged young adult living that’s frank about the mess and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
