The performer appears on the online meeting and at once begins an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, appearing really remorseful. Despite being only a bit late, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, during an interview, that’s just what one hopes to encounter. Moreover, it’s pretty predictable. Anyone who have seen her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken movie Bottoms—that she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—can understand that Sennott holds much to discuss, ranging from about identity, relationships, or the appeal of starting a teen combat group. And, after watching the new seasonal program titled I Love LA, it is clear that she carries additional insights on the darker side of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she serves as an honorary member for this generation, straddling eras adept for connecting different age groups).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress is an admirer, citing the show together with Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as guides for her series, which details the journey of a social media star Tallulah and her friend and fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the biggest presence on creative vision belonged to the HBO series, the program focusing on an emerging A-list actor making his way in an often-seedy entertainment industry (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it amid lockdown, became “hooked”, and resolved to put her own twist 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 I Love LA originated—to some extent—from personal, originally rocky, transition to LA and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about event for enthusiasts. This represented a time that involved her learn some big life lessons, professionally and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” 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 New England, Sennott began creating and acting humor while studying theatre 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.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She took matters into her own hands, appearing at amateur nights with Edebiri and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) bizarre comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively obsessed with motherhood; a different one portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being trapped in a horror film. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through campus film circles and eventually featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a funeral gathering with echoes of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her path, she notes, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, instead of established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Those who had doubts about Sennott earlier will certainly be regretting it today. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” story, she seems to have achieved an ideal role. A few years back she uploaded content titled on LA life on the internet, in which she lampooned film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about LA residents balancing advantages of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your associate being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and potentially becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be easy to create a show about internet celebrity that was extremely idealized—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. The series does neither, creating a depiction of privileged twentysomething life that’s frank about the mess and the appeal.
Empathetic Approach
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she says. “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
