The star enters the digital interview and right away launches into an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, appearing genuinely remorseful. Although she's only a couple of minutes late, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, during an interview, that’s precisely what one hopes to experience. Additionally, it’s quite unsurprising. Viewers who have seen the boldly queer and brash movie titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with her creative partner and appeared in together with her friend the talented actress—would be aware that she holds much to share, be it on gender, intimacy, or the pros of starting a high-school combat group. Furthermore, by the end the recent seasonal show I Love LA, viewers realize that the star carries further thoughts regarding the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she is a bridge to younger audiences, straddling eras with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress is an admirer, referencing it in addition to the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as guides for the project, which follows the struggles of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also aspiring talent manager Maia. Perhaps, the biggest influence on the moodboard went to Entourage, that show depicting an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in a corrupt entertainment industry (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and resolved to create a new version 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 says. The concept for this project originated—to some extent—from her own, initially rocky, relocation to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a frequently discussed phenomenon for enthusiasts. It was a time that involved her grasp major truths, professionally and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” 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
Raised in Connecticut, the star commenced writing and performing comedy while enrolled in theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “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. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She took matters into her own hands, performing at amateur nights with Edebiri and posting uproarious (and decidedly) bizarre skits on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on several females intensely fixated on pregnancy; another portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a horror film. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been peers giving her a shot, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, adding amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who were skeptical about her previously will certainly be kicking themselves currently. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” story, she has achieved the perfect project. Previously she uploaded content titled about Los Angeles online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a series about Angelenos managing benefits of internet fame (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your client being labeled as being a intoxicated stealer, and possibly becoming a risky pariah). Some could tempting to create a show about digital influence that was overly aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at its subjects. This show avoids both, creating a portrait of privileged millennial living that’s frank about the mess and the appeal.
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 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
