The actress and writer on her hilarious comedy about the chaotic appeal of younger generation lifestyle

The performer joins the digital interview and at once begins an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming genuinely apologetic. Although she's only a couple of minutes late, she wants 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 precisely what is ideal to hear. Besides, it’s fairly expected. Viewers who have seen the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside close companion Ayo Edebiri—would already know that Sennott holds a lot to share, be it on gender, intimacy, or the merits of creating a teen fight club. Plus, after watching the recent multi-episode program I Love LA, it is clear that she holds further perspectives regarding the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott represents a relatable figure for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for bridging both generations).

Inspirations and Creative Vision

The comparisons to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress is an admirer, citing the show in addition to Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for the project, which follows the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and aspiring talent manager Maia. Notably, the largest influence on concept belonged to the HBO series, that show about an emerging A-list actor making his way in an often-seedy LA scene (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it throughout COVID-19, became “captivated”, and resolved to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The inspiration for the series emerged—to some extent—from personal, at first fractious, move to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed phenomenon for enthusiasts. It was a phase that saw her grasp significant life lessons, work-wise and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Humble Origins

Growing up in the East Coast, the star commenced developing and showcasing humor while pursuing theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

She decided to act independently, performing at live shows with Edebiri and uploading uproarious (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely fixated on motherhood; another imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up appearing in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of the intense thriller. The central motif of her career, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, rather than the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”

Rising Success

Individuals who were skeptical about her previously will certainly be feeling foolish today. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to achieved an ideal role. In 2019 she shared a video titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about city dwellers balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing thief, and perhaps becoming a risky pariah). One might easy to create a series about digital influence that was horribly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at its subjects. The series steers clear of each, making for a representation of advantaged twentysomething life that’s honest about the grot and the glamour.

Empathetic Approach

“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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