The star enters the digital interview and right away starts an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, sounding really remorseful. She is only slightly late, she feels compelled to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s just what is ideal to hear. Besides, it’s quite expected. Those who have seen the fearlessly openly gay and brash film Bottoms—which she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that she possesses plenty to discuss, whether on identity, relationships, or the appeal of creating a youth fight club. Furthermore, after watching her new seasonal show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds even more thoughts on the challenges of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott represents an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, referencing the show together with Sex and the City, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for the project, which follows the journey of online personality Tallulah and her friend and fledgling representative portrayed by Sennott. However, the biggest spot on creative vision went to the HBO series, the program focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star navigating in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it amid lockdown, became “hooked”, and resolved to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The concept for the series originated—partly—from firsthand, originally rocky, relocation to LA and from the cosmic event, a popular occurrence for followers. It was a phase that involved her grasp major life lessons, professionally and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Growing up in the East Coast, the star began developing and showcasing humor while studying performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott decided to act independently, performing at amateur nights with her friend and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) weird skits on the internet. One, Baby Cult, followed several females fetishistically obsessed with pregnancy; a different one envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as like being trapped in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through the university’s film scene and ended up starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age giving her a shot, as opposed to traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who had doubts about Sennott then will likely be kicking themselves today. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she has created her dream vehicle. Previously she shared a video named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she lampooned film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a show about Angelenos managing the perks of internet fame (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your client being suspected of being a drug-addled thief, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). It would be simple to produce a show about digital influence that was overly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. The series steers clear of each, making for a depiction of privileged twentysomething existence that’s honest about the chaos and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
