The star joins the online meeting and immediately starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, sounding genuinely apologetic. She is only a bit delayed, she needs to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, during an interview, that’s exactly what you want to experience. Moreover, it’s fairly unsurprising. Viewers who have seen the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and outspoken project Bottoms—which she penned with the director and starred in alongside her friend The Bear’s standout—can already know that Sennott has much to say, whether about identity, relationships, or the appeal of forming a teen fight club. Plus, after watching her new seasonal show I Love LA, it is clear that the star has even more thoughts about the challenges of modern youth (At 30, Sennott represents a relatable figure for this generation, straddling eras adept for connecting both generations).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Parallels to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress admits to being a fan, naming it alongside the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as guides for I Love LA, which tracks the journey of online personality Tallulah and her friend who is also fledgling representative Maia. Perhaps, the most significant influence on concept was reserved for the HBO series, the show focusing on an emerging Hollywood star making his way in a corrupt LA scene (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it amid the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The concept for I Love LA originated—to some extent—from personal, at first fractious, transition to LA and from the astrological phase, a frequently discussed occurrence for enthusiasts. It was an era that saw her understand significant life lessons, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott commenced developing and showcasing stand-up while studying theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott decided to act independently, performing at amateur nights with her friend and posting uproarious (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed characters obsessively fixated on having babies; a different one imagined working at the brand Hollister as akin to being trapped in a horror film. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a religious event with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her career, she says, has been people her own age offering opportunities, instead of traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, adding humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who questioned regarding Sennott previously will likely be feeling foolish today. In what she describes as a “astonishingly complete” development, she has manifested her dream vehicle. Previously she shared content titled on LA life on social media, in which she mocked movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a show about LA residents balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being accused of being a substance-abusing stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be easy to produce a show about digital influence that was horribly glamorous—or, worse, one that belittled at the characters. The series steers clear of each, resulting in a depiction of affluent young adult existence that’s honest about the chaos 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
