The star joins the digital interview and at once launches into an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, sounding really apologetic. Although she's only a bit late, 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!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s precisely what you want to encounter. Moreover, it’s quite unsurprising. Those familiar with her fearlessly openly gay and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in with collaborator the talented actress—will understand that Sennott possesses much to share, be it about identity, sex, or the appeal of forming a youth combat group. Furthermore, by the end her latest eight-part HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has further insights on the struggles of modern youth (Now in her thirties, she represents a bridge of the gang, on the cusp adept for straddling different age groups).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, referencing it alongside the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as guides for the project, which tracks the journey of online personality Tallulah and her friend and aspiring representative Maia. However, the largest presence on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, that HBO sitcom focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She started watching it during the pandemic, became “captivated”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The inspiration for the series came—to some extent—from firsthand, originally fractious, move to LA and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about occurrence for followers. That period marked a phase that involved her learn significant truths, work-wise and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” 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 resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Raised in the East Coast, the star commenced creating and acting comedy while pursuing acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” 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. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at amateur nights with her friend and posting hysterical (and decidedly) weird skits on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively obsessed with pregnancy; a different one envisioned being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being stuck in a scary movie. By chance, she met Emma through campus film circles and eventually appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a religious event with hints of the intense thriller. The central motif of her career, she explains, has been peers giving her a shot, instead of established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, adding with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Anyone who questioned about Sennott then will surely be feeling foolish currently. Through she labels a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she seems to have created an ideal role. Previously she posted a clip named on LA life online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a show about Angelenos juggling benefits of online celebrity (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your client being labeled as being a intoxicated criminal, and potentially becoming a unreliable persona non grata). It would be simple to produce a series about internet celebrity that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at those depicted. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a depiction of advantaged millennial life that’s frank about the chaos and the shine.
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 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
