The actress and writer discussing her uproarious series portraying the messy allure of today's youth life

The performer enters the digital interview and immediately starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, appearing genuinely apologetic. Despite being only a bit delayed, she needs to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s just what you want to experience. Moreover, it’s fairly predictable. Viewers familiar with the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken project titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with her creative partner and featured in with her friend Ayo Edebiri—would already know that she possesses much to discuss, be it about identity, relationships, or the pros of forming a teen brawl society. And, once you finish the recent seasonal show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she has additional thoughts regarding the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, she serves as an honorary member for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling both generations).

Influences and Storytelling Approach

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress is an admirer, citing the show alongside the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as influences for the project, which tracks the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also new representative Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest presence on the moodboard was reserved for the HBO series, that show about a rising celebrity succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it throughout COVID-19, became “captivated”, and chose to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The idea for this project came—partly—from her own, at first difficult, relocation to LA and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about occurrence for followers. This represented a phase that included her grasp significant life lessons, work-wise and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “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

Growing up in Connecticut, the star began developing and showcasing comedy while studying performance at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”

She seized control, performing at live shows with her friend and posting hysterical (and decidedly) weird skits digitally. One, Baby Cult, centered on characters fetishistically fixated on pregnancy; another portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, as opposed to traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, continuing with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Manifesting Dreams

Those who had doubts about her earlier will likely be feeling foolish now. In what she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she has created her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted a clip named about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a series about LA residents balancing the perks of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being labeled as being a drug-addled criminal, and perhaps becoming a risky persona non grata). One might simple to make a series about internet celebrity that was extremely idealized—or, worse, one that mocked at those depicted. The series avoids both, making for a portrait of affluent twentysomething living that’s honest about the mess and the appeal.

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

Samantha Rodriguez
Samantha Rodriguez

Lena Voss is a full-stack developer and writer who advocates for minimalist tech stacks.