The actress and writer on the side-splitting comedy portraying that grotty appeal of today's youth life
The performer appears on the video call and right away begins an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, sounding really regretful. Although she's only a couple of minutes late, she wants to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is just what one hopes to experience. Moreover, it’s fairly expected. Those familiar with her fearlessly queer and brash project Bottoms—which Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside collaborator the talented actress—can understand that she holds plenty to discuss, ranging from about roles, relationships, or the appeal of starting a teen fight club. Furthermore, once you finish her latest multi-episode program titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she has further insights regarding the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott is a bridge to younger audiences, straddling eras with a knack for bridging both generations).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Parallels to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, citing it alongside the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as guides for the project, which tracks the travails of an influencer Tallulah and ally and aspiring talent manager Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the most significant influence on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, the HBO sitcom focusing on an emerging A-list actor succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, 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 explains. The concept for this project originated—in part—from firsthand, initially difficult, move to LA and from her saturn return, a popular occurrence for astrology heads. That period marked a phase that involved her grasp significant life lessons, professionally and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Raised in New England, the star commenced writing and performing comedy while studying theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with Edebiri and posting hilarious (and very) bizarre skits on the internet. One, Baby Cult, followed a group of women obsessively fixated on motherhood; another imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being caught in a horror film. By chance, she met Emma through NYU’s movie community and ultimately featuring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, continuing with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Individuals who questioned regarding her then will surely be feeling foolish currently. In what she labels a “incredibly circular” story, she has manifested an ideal role. A few years back she posted a clip titled “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about LA residents managing benefits of online celebrity (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing stealer, and potentially becoming a unreliable persona non grata). It would be tempting to create a program about digital influence that was horribly idealized—or, worse, one that mocked at its subjects. The series avoids both, creating a representation of affluent millennial existence that’s frank about the grot and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“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
