The performer enters the online meeting and immediately starts an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, sounding genuinely regretful. She is only slightly behind, she wants to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, in this context, this is precisely what is ideal to hear. Moreover, it’s quite predictable. Anyone familiar with her boldly LGBTQ+ and brash movie titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and appeared in with close companion Ayo Edebiri—can understand that she holds a lot to share, whether on identity, sex, or the appeal of forming a teen brawl society. And, by the end her recent seasonal show I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds even more insights regarding the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott is an honorary member for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for connecting different age groups).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, citing it alongside Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as influences for her series, which details the travails of a social media star Tallulah and ally who is also aspiring talent manager Sennott’s character. Notably, the biggest influence on concept went to Entourage, the program depicting a rising A-list actor navigating in a gritty LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it during COVID-19, became “hooked”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective 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 notes. The inspiration for I Love LA originated—in part—from firsthand, originally fractious, move to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a popular phenomenon for astrology heads. It was a time that saw her grasp some big life lessons, professionally and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Growing up in New England, Sennott started writing and performing humor while pursuing performance at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at live shows with Edebiri and uploading uproarious (and very) bizarre comedy videos digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women intensely obsessed with having babies; a different one envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being stuck in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her path, she notes, has been peers offering opportunities, rather than the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, continuing with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who were skeptical regarding her previously will certainly be feeling foolish today. In what she labels a “wild, full-circle” development, she seems to have manifested the perfect project. In 2019 she uploaded content titled on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a show about Angelenos managing benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your client being accused of being a substance-abusing thief, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). One might simple to produce a series about internet celebrity that was extremely idealized—or, more problematic, one that mocked at those depicted. The series avoids both, creating a depiction of affluent twentysomething life that’s frank about the mess and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” she observes. “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
