The star appears on the digital interview and right away starts an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, seeming truly regretful. Although she's only slightly delayed, she wants to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is just what is ideal to experience. Moreover, it’s fairly unsurprising. Those who have seen the boldly queer and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with the director and appeared in alongside close companion Ayo Edebiri—can understand that Sennott has a lot to discuss, whether about identity, intimacy, or the appeal of starting a high-school fight club. Plus, by the end the new multi-episode program I Love LA, it is clear that she holds additional insights on the darker side of modern youth (At 30, Sennott is an honorary member of the gang, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, naming it in addition to the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as influences for her series, which follows the travails of online personality Tallulah and ally who is also fledgling representative Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the largest influence on concept went to the HBO series, that HBO sitcom focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy LA scene (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it during COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective 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 explains. The idea for I Love LA came—to some extent—from her own, initially difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about phenomenon for astrology heads. This represented a time that included her learn some big insights, work-wise and in private life. “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. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Raised in New England, Sennott began creating and acting stand-up while enrolled in performance at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She took matters into her own hands, performing at amateur nights with her friend and sharing uproarious (and very) unconventional online content digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed characters intensely drawn to motherhood; another envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a horror film. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she notes, has been people her own age giving her a shot, rather than traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Anyone who were skeptical about Sennott previously will surely be regretting it currently. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she seems to have manifested an ideal role. In 2019 she uploaded a clip titled about Los Angeles on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a show about LA residents managing benefits of digital stardom (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and potentially becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be tempting to produce a show about digital influence that was extremely glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at the characters. The series steers clear of each, creating a depiction of privileged millennial living that’s candid about the mess and the glamour.
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 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
