The star enters the online meeting and immediately launches into an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, sounding truly apologetic. She is only slightly behind, she feels compelled to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s exactly what one hopes to encounter. Besides, it’s fairly predictable. Those who know the fearlessly queer and outspoken project Bottoms—which she penned with the director and appeared in together with collaborator the talented actress—would be aware that Sennott has plenty to share, whether about identity, intimacy, or the merits of starting a high-school brawl society. Furthermore, once you finish her new eight-part program titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has even more thoughts on the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, she represents a bridge for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for connecting both generations).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, naming the show together with Sex and the City, Insecure and the innovative program as guides for I Love LA, which details the travails of online personality Tallulah and close companion who is also aspiring talent manager Sennott’s character. Notably, the biggest influence on concept went to the HBO series, the show focusing on an emerging Hollywood star making his way in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it during the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The concept for the series came—partly—from her own, originally fractious, move to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about occurrence for followers. This represented a phase that saw her understand significant life lessons, work-wise and individually. “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 resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott began writing and performing stand-up 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. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott decided to act independently, performing at open mics with Edebiri and posting hilarious (and very) bizarre skits online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters obsessively fixated on having babies; another imagined working at the brand Hollister as akin to being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age giving her a shot, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Individuals who had doubts regarding Sennott earlier will certainly be feeling foolish now. In what she describes as a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she seems to have achieved the perfect project. Previously she posted a video titled “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about Angelenos juggling advantages of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being labeled as being a substance-abusing criminal, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). Some could easy to create a series about internet celebrity that was overly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. This show avoids both, creating a portrait of privileged twentysomething existence that’s frank about the grot 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
