The star enters the video call and right away begins an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, appearing really apologetic. Although she's only a couple of minutes delayed, she feels compelled to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, during an interview, this is just what is ideal to encounter. Moreover, it’s quite expected. Viewers who have seen her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—that Sennott penned with the director and appeared in alongside close companion the talented actress—will understand that she has a lot to share, ranging from on gender, relationships, or the pros of forming a teen fight club. Plus, after watching her latest eight-part show I Love LA, viewers realize that the star carries additional perspectives regarding the struggles of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott serves as a bridge of the gang, on the cusp with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress is an admirer, naming it together with the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as guides for her series, which details the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and her friend and aspiring agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the biggest spot on the moodboard went to the popular sitcom, that HBO sitcom focusing on an up-and-coming celebrity succeeding in an often-seedy entertainment industry (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it during COVID-19, became “hooked”, and chose to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The inspiration for I Love LA came—in part—from firsthand, initially fractious, relocation to LA and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed occurrence for astrology heads. It was a time that saw her understand major life lessons, work-wise and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott started creating and acting stand-up while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at live shows with Edebiri and posting hysterical (and distinctly) unconventional online content digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; another envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as like being trapped in a scary movie. By chance, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and ultimately appearing in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her journey, she notes, has been peers supporting her, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, stating with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Individuals who were skeptical regarding her earlier will surely be feeling foolish currently. In what she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have created an ideal role. Previously she posted a clip titled on LA life on social media, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a comedy about city dwellers balancing the perks of internet fame (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and potentially becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be simple to create a show about online fame that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that punched down at its subjects. The series avoids both, resulting in a portrait of affluent young adult living that’s frank about the mess and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“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
