The star appears on the video call and at once launches into an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, sounding truly apologetic. She is only a bit late, she needs to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is exactly what is ideal to hear. Moreover, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone who know the boldly openly gay and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—which she penned with the director and appeared in with her friend the talented actress—will be aware that Sennott has much to share, whether about roles, sex, or the pros of forming a teen fight club. And, after watching the recent eight-part program I Love LA, viewers realize that she has further thoughts on the darker side of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she serves as a relatable figure of the gang, a tale-end millennial skilled for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and Sennott readily acknowledges an admirer, naming the show alongside Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which tracks the journey of online personality Tallulah and ally who is also aspiring talent manager portrayed by Sennott. However, the most significant spot on concept belonged to Entourage, that program depicting an up-and-coming celebrity succeeding in an often-seedy LA scene (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it amid the pandemic, became “hooked”, and decided to create a new version 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 says. The concept for this project emerged—in part—from her own, at first fractious, relocation to LA and from her astrological phase, a popular event for enthusiasts. That period marked an era that involved her grasp some big life lessons, work-wise and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott began writing and performing comedy while pursuing performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. 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.”
She seized control, taking the stage at open mics with Ayo and sharing uproarious (and decidedly) weird skits digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed several females fetishistically drawn to motherhood; a different one portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her path, she explains, has been contemporaries supporting her, instead of traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, continuing with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who had doubts about her earlier will surely be feeling foolish today. As part of she describes as a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she has manifested an ideal role. A few years back she posted a clip named about Los Angeles online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a comedy about Angelenos juggling benefits of internet fame (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being labeled as being a substance-abusing criminal, and perhaps becoming a unreliable pariah). Some could tempting to make a show about internet celebrity that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at the characters. This show avoids both, creating a portrait of advantaged young adult living that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
