The star enters the digital interview and right away starts an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, sounding really apologetic. Despite being only a bit late, she needs to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, during an interview, this is exactly what you want to hear. Besides, it’s fairly expected. Viewers who have seen the fearlessly openly gay and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside her friend the talented actress—will understand that she holds a lot to say, be it on identity, intimacy, or the appeal of starting a teen fight club. And, after watching the new seasonal show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star carries even more perspectives on the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, she is a relatable figure for this generation, a tale-end millennial skilled for bridging different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress is a fan, naming the show together with the classic series, Insecure and the innovative program as inspirations for the project, which follows the struggles of online personality Tallulah and close companion who is also fledgling talent manager Sennott’s character. However, the biggest presence on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, the show focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in a corrupt LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it amid lockdown, became “obsessed”, and decided to create a new version 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 inspiration for this project originated—to some extent—from firsthand, initially fractious, relocation to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a popular event for followers. It was a phase that saw her understand significant life lessons, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Growing up in the East Coast, the star started creating and acting humor while studying performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “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, appearing at amateur nights with Edebiri and uploading uproarious (and distinctly) unconventional online content online. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on characters intensely drawn to pregnancy; a different one imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being caught in a thriller. By chance, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a religious event with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her career, she says, has been people her own age offering opportunities, instead of the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, continuing with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who were skeptical regarding her earlier will certainly be kicking themselves now. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she appears to created her dream vehicle. Previously she posted content named “it’s LA” online, in which she mocked film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a series about LA residents managing benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and potentially becoming a risky outcast). Some could simple to produce a series about online fame that was overly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that punched down at the characters. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a representation of privileged millennial living that’s frank about the mess and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“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
