The star enters the video call and right away starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, sounding really remorseful. She is only a bit late, she needs to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is exactly what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s pretty unsurprising. Viewers who have seen the boldly queer and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—that she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in with close companion the talented actress—will understand that she has much to discuss, be it on roles, relationships, or the appeal of creating a high-school combat group. And, by the end the new seasonal show titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries even more thoughts on the struggles of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she serves as an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for straddling both generations).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott readily acknowledges an admirer, citing the show alongside the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which tracks the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and her friend and new agent Maia. However, the biggest spot on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, the show focusing on an up-and-coming A-list actor navigating in a corrupt Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it amid COVID-19, became “hooked”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective 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 idea for this project emerged—in part—from firsthand, initially fractious, transition to LA and from the astrological phase, a popular phenomenon for followers. This represented an era that involved her understand some big insights, work-wise and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” 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…”
Starting Out
Brought up in New England, Sennott commenced creating and acting humor while studying performance at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “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 took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with Edebiri and posting hilarious (and distinctly) weird skits on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women intensely drawn to pregnancy; another envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being trapped in a thriller. By chance, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her journey, she says, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, rather than the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, continuing with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who questioned about Sennott earlier will surely be kicking themselves now. Through she labels a “incredibly circular” development, she has created her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded content named “it’s LA” online, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about LA residents managing benefits of internet fame (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being labeled as being a substance-abusing thief, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be easy to create a series about online fame that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that punched down at the characters. I Love LA does neither, creating a depiction of affluent young adult existence that’s honest about the grot and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
