The performer enters the online meeting and right away begins an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, seeming genuinely regretful. She is only a couple of minutes late, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s just what one hopes to encounter. Moreover, it’s fairly predictable. Those who know her fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—which she penned with the director and appeared in with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—will understand that she possesses plenty to say, ranging from about gender, relationships, or the appeal of creating a high-school fight club. Plus, after watching the recent multi-episode program titled I Love LA, it is clear that she holds even more thoughts on the challenges of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott is an honorary member of the gang, straddling eras skilled for straddling different age groups).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being an admirer, naming the show together with the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as influences for the project, which details the travails of online personality Tallulah and close companion who is also fledgling representative Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the biggest influence on concept went to the HBO series, the show focusing on a rising Hollywood star navigating in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it throughout COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and resolved to create a new version 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 concept for the series originated—partly—from her own, initially rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about occurrence for astrology heads. That period marked an era that saw her understand some big life lessons, work-wise 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 resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Brought up in the East Coast, the star started writing and performing humor while studying performance at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She seized control, performing at open mics with Ayo and uploading uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre comedy videos digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed several females fetishistically fixated on motherhood; another imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as like being caught in a scary movie. Interestingly, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a religious event with shades of the intense thriller. The central motif of her career, she explains, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, as opposed to traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, continuing with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who were skeptical about Sennott earlier will likely be kicking themselves now. As part of she labels a “astonishingly complete” story, she seems to have manifested an ideal role. A few years back she shared a clip titled on LA life online, in which she parodied movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a show about Angelenos managing the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). One might simple to create a show about internet celebrity that was overly idealized—or, more problematic, one that mocked at those depicted. This show steers clear of each, making for a portrait of affluent twentysomething living that’s frank about the chaos 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
