The star enters the digital interview and at once starts an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, seeming really remorseful. She is only slightly behind, she feels compelled to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, in this context, this is just what is ideal to encounter. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Those familiar with her boldly LGBTQ+ and brash movie titled Bottoms—which she co-wrote with the director and featured in with collaborator The Bear’s standout—would understand that Sennott has much to share, be it on roles, relationships, or the appeal of creating a teen fight club. Plus, after watching her recent eight-part program titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she has additional thoughts regarding the darker side of modern youth (At 30, Sennott represents an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for connecting both generations).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott is enthusiastic, naming it alongside the classic series, Insecure and the innovative program as influences for the project, which follows the travails of an influencer Tallulah and ally who is also new agent Maia. Perhaps, the biggest presence on concept was reserved for the HBO series, that HBO sitcom depicting a rising A-list actor making his way in a corrupt LA scene (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She started watching it during lockdown, became “obsessed”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The inspiration for the series originated—in part—from personal, at first difficult, relocation to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a popular event for astrology heads. That period marked a phase that saw her understand significant insights, in her career and individually. “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
Growing up in New England, Sennott began creating and acting humor while pursuing theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at open mics with Edebiri and uploading uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre online content on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted characters obsessively fixated on pregnancy; another imagined working at the brand Hollister as akin to being stuck in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the intense thriller. The central motif of her career, she explains, has been peers offering opportunities, rather than established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, stating with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who had doubts regarding her previously will likely be regretting it now. In what she calls a “astonishingly complete” story, she has created her dream vehicle. In 2019 she posted content called about Los Angeles on social media, in which she lampooned movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about LA residents balancing benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being suspected of being a substance-abusing stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). One might simple to produce a series about internet celebrity that was overly glamorous—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, making for a depiction of advantaged young adult living that’s candid about the mess and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“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
