The star appears on the video call and immediately launches into an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, sounding truly remorseful. Although she's only a couple of minutes late, 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 exactly what you want to hear. Besides, it’s fairly expected. Those who have seen the fearlessly queer and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—that she penned with Emma Seligman and starred in with collaborator the talented actress—would be aware that Sennott has plenty to share, be it on identity, intimacy, or the pros of starting a youth fight club. And, once you finish the latest seasonal HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that she carries even more thoughts on the challenges of young adulthood (As a millennial, she represents an honorary member for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for straddling both generations).
Influences and Creative Vision
Parallels to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott is a fan, naming the show alongside Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as influences for I Love LA, which tracks the travails of online personality Tallulah and ally who is also new representative Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest spot on the moodboard was reserved for the HBO series, the HBO sitcom focusing on a rising celebrity navigating in a gritty entertainment industry (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The idea for the series emerged—to some extent—from personal, at first rocky, transition to LA and from the cosmic event, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. That period marked an era that included her learn some big insights, work-wise and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in the East Coast, the star started developing and showcasing humor while enrolled in acting 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. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott seized control, appearing at amateur nights with Edebiri and sharing uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre online content digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted characters intensely fixated on having babies; a different one imagined working at the brand Hollister as akin to being trapped in a thriller. By chance, she encountered Seligman through campus film circles and eventually starring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her journey, she explains, has been people her own age giving her a shot, as opposed to traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she repeats, stating with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who questioned about Sennott then will surely be feeling foolish currently. In what she calls a “wild, full-circle” development, she appears to created the perfect project. In 2019 she posted a video titled on LA life on social media, in which she parodied movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a series about city dwellers juggling the perks of internet fame (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing stealer, and perhaps becoming a risky persona non grata). One might tempting to make a program about online fame that was horribly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at those depicted. I Love LA steers clear of each, making for a depiction of affluent millennial living that’s honest about the chaos and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
