The performer enters the online meeting and right away begins an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, appearing really regretful. Although she's only slightly delayed, she feels compelled to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is exactly what is ideal to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Viewers familiar with her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and brash project titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in together with her friend the talented actress—will understand that Sennott has much to discuss, whether about identity, intimacy, or the merits of starting a teen brawl society. And, once you finish the latest eight-part show titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star carries further insights on the struggles of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a relatable figure for this generation, straddling eras adept for straddling both generations).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, citing the show in addition to the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as influences for her series, which tracks the journey of online personality Tallulah and her friend and aspiring representative Sennott’s character. However, the most significant presence on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, that show about a rising Hollywood star making his way in a corrupt Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it during lockdown, became “obsessed”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective 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 concept for this project emerged—in part—from firsthand, originally fractious, relocation to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about event for astrology heads. This represented a phase that involved her learn some big life lessons, in her career and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “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
Raised in the East Coast, the star commenced writing and performing humor while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She decided to act independently, performing at live shows with her friend and posting uproarious (and very) bizarre comedy videos online. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women obsessively obsessed with motherhood; a different one portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through campus film circles and eventually appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her journey, she says, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who were skeptical regarding her earlier will surely be kicking themselves now. In what she labels a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she has manifested the perfect project. Previously she shared a video titled on LA life on social media, in which she mocked movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a show about city dwellers juggling benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being labeled as being a intoxicated thief, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). It would be easy to make a series about internet celebrity that was overly aspirational—or, worse, one that mocked at its subjects. The series avoids both, resulting in a portrait of privileged millennial existence that’s frank about the mess and the shine.
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
