The performer joins the video call and right away launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, sounding truly apologetic. Although she's only a bit delayed, she needs to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is just what is ideal to hear. Besides, it’s pretty predictable. Anyone who have seen the fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—which Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside her friend The Bear’s standout—would be aware that Sennott possesses plenty to say, be it about identity, intimacy, or the pros of starting a teen brawl society. Furthermore, once you finish the new eight-part show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds even more perspectives about the struggles of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott is an honorary member of the gang, on the cusp with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott readily acknowledges an admirer, referencing the show together with the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as influences for her series, which tracks the struggles of online personality Tallulah and close companion and new representative Maia. However, the biggest spot on the moodboard went to the popular sitcom, the HBO sitcom about a rising A-list actor making his way in a corrupt Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it during COVID-19, became “captivated”, and chose to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The idea for I Love LA originated—to some extent—from personal, originally rocky, relocation to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed occurrence for enthusiasts. This represented a phase that involved her grasp major life lessons, in her career 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.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Growing up in New England, Sennott began writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in performance at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “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?”
She seized control, performing at amateur nights with Edebiri and sharing hilarious (and decidedly) unconventional skits online. One, Baby Cult, centered on several females fetishistically drawn to motherhood; a different one envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being caught in a horror film. By chance, she connected with Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually featuring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she says, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, as opposed to traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, stating humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who were skeptical about her then will certainly be feeling foolish now. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she shared content titled about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a series about LA residents balancing the perks of digital stardom (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being suspected of being a drug-addled thief, and potentially becoming a unreliable outcast). One might tempting to make a program about online fame that was overly aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at its subjects. The series avoids both, creating a depiction of privileged twentysomething existence that’s candid about the chaos and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she comments. “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
