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The performer joins the video call and immediately launches into an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, seeming really regretful. Despite being only slightly behind, she wants to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is exactly what you want to hear. Besides, it’s fairly predictable. Those who have seen her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and outspoken film titled Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with the director and starred in together with collaborator the talented actress—will be aware that Sennott possesses plenty to share, whether on roles, sex, or the appeal of creating a youth brawl society. Furthermore, by the end her recent seasonal program titled I Love LA, it is clear that she has additional perspectives regarding the darker side of modern youth (As a millennial, Sennott serves as a bridge for this generation, on the cusp adept for bridging millennials and Gen Z).

Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and Sennott is an admirer, citing the show alongside Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for her series, which follows the travails of an influencer Tallulah and ally and aspiring agent Maia. However, the biggest influence on concept was reserved for the popular sitcom, the show focusing on an up-and-coming A-list actor navigating in a corrupt Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it throughout the pandemic, became “captivated”, and resolved 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 notes. The idea for this project originated—partly—from firsthand, initially rocky, transition to LA and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about occurrence for enthusiasts. That period marked a phase that included her grasp significant truths, work-wise and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Starting Out

Raised in Connecticut, the star started writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” 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. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”

Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at amateur nights with her friend and sharing uproarious (and very) unconventional comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed a group of women fetishistically fixated on pregnancy; a different one portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as akin to being caught in a scary movie. Interestingly, she met Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her path, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, instead of the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she repeats, stating with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”

Rising Success

Individuals who had doubts regarding her earlier will surely be regretting it currently. In what she calls a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she appears to manifested her dream vehicle. A few years back she shared a video titled “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a show about LA residents managing benefits of internet fame (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). One might simple to produce a show about internet celebrity that was overly idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at those depicted. The series avoids both, resulting in a representation of affluent millennial life that’s honest about the mess and the glamour.

Balanced Perspective

“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