The star joins the video call and immediately begins an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, appearing truly remorseful. Despite being only a bit late, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s exactly what you want to encounter. Additionally, it’s fairly predictable. Those familiar with the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken movie Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and starred in with collaborator the talented actress—can be aware that Sennott holds a lot to share, whether on identity, relationships, or the merits of creating a teen combat group. And, once you finish the new multi-episode program I Love LA, it is clear that she carries further insights about the challenges of young adulthood (At 30, she is an honorary member for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for straddling different age groups).
Influences and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress is a fan, citing the show together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the struggles of online personality Tallulah and close companion and aspiring agent Maia. Notably, the largest spot on concept was reserved for the HBO series, that program focusing on an up-and-coming celebrity making his way in a corrupt entertainment industry (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it throughout lockdown, became “hooked”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The idea for I Love LA originated—partly—from personal, initially fractious, relocation to LA and from the astrological phase, a popular event for enthusiasts. That period marked a phase that saw her understand some big life lessons, professionally and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott started writing and performing comedy while studying performance at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She decided to act independently, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and posting hilarious (and very) bizarre skits digitally. One, Baby Cult, followed several females intensely obsessed with pregnancy; a different one imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually featuring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her path, she says, has been people her own age supporting her, instead of traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, adding with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who were skeptical about Sennott earlier will likely be kicking themselves today. As part of she calls a “astonishingly complete” development, she appears to created the perfect project. Previously she posted a clip named on LA life on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a show about city dwellers balancing advantages of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your client being accused of being a intoxicated criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). One might tempting to produce a series about digital influence that was extremely idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA steers clear of each, resulting in a portrait of affluent young adult living that’s frank about the chaos and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
