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The performer joins the video call and right away launches into an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, appearing really remorseful. She is only a bit delayed, she feels compelled to explain. “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!” Luckily, for a writer, this is precisely what one hopes to experience. Additionally, it’s fairly predictable. Viewers who know the fearlessly queer and outspoken project Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with the director and appeared in alongside close companion the talented actress—can be aware that she holds a lot to share, be it on identity, sex, or the merits of forming a youth combat group. And, once you finish her recent eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has further thoughts regarding the darker side of modern youth (As a millennial, she is a relatable figure of the gang, a tale-end millennial with a knack for bridging both generations).

Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, naming the show together with Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as influences for the project, which tracks the travails of online personality Tallulah and close companion who is also new agent Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the largest influence on creative vision was reserved for Entourage, the HBO sitcom about a rising celebrity making his way in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it during lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The idea for the series came—to some extent—from personal, at first difficult, relocation to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a popular phenomenon for enthusiasts. It was a phase that saw her learn some big life lessons, work-wise and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” 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 resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Starting Out

Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott began developing and showcasing humor while studying performance 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 says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and sharing hilarious (and very) unconventional online content online. One, Baby Cult, centered on a group of women obsessively fixated on having babies; another imagined working at the brand Hollister as similar to being caught in a scary movie. By chance, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and ultimately featuring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a funeral gathering with shades of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her career, she explains, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, adding humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Career Breakthrough

Those who had doubts about Sennott previously will certainly be kicking themselves currently. As part of she labels a “wild, full-circle” development, she has created an ideal role. A few years back she shared a clip titled on LA life on the internet, in which she lampooned film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a series about Angelenos balancing advantages of digital stardom (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). It would be tempting to produce a show about digital influence that was horribly idealized—or, more problematic, one that mocked at those depicted. The series avoids both, making for a portrait of privileged twentysomething life that’s honest about the mess and the appeal.

Empathetic Approach

“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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