The performer appears on the digital interview and at once begins an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, seeming really regretful. Although she's only a couple of minutes behind, she needs to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, in this context, this is just what is ideal to experience. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone familiar with her fearlessly openly gay and outspoken project titled Bottoms—which she co-wrote with her creative partner and starred in alongside her friend the talented actress—would already know that Sennott possesses a lot to share, ranging from about identity, relationships, or the appeal of creating a high-school combat group. And, by the end her latest eight-part program titled I Love LA, it is clear that she carries further perspectives regarding the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott is a relatable figure for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling different age groups).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress admits to being an admirer, referencing the show in addition to Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which details the journey of an influencer Tallulah and close companion and fledgling talent manager Sennott’s character. However, the largest influence on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, that HBO sitcom focusing on a rising A-list actor navigating in a gritty entertainment industry (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott began viewing it during lockdown, became “hooked”, and chose to add a fresh perspective 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 notes. The concept for I Love LA originated—to some extent—from her own, originally difficult, relocation to LA and from the cosmic event, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. This represented a time that saw her learn some big truths, professionally and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Growing up in New England, Sennott began creating and acting comedy while pursuing 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.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She decided to act independently, appearing at amateur nights with Ayo and sharing uproarious (and very) weird comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed several females intensely drawn to motherhood; a different one portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as like being stuck in a thriller. By chance, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the intense thriller. The central motif of her career, she says, has been peers supporting her, as opposed to traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who questioned about Sennott earlier will surely be regretting it today. As part of she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. Previously she posted a video called on LA life on social media, in which she lampooned film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about LA residents juggling advantages of digital stardom (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your client being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and perhaps becoming a risky pariah). One might simple to produce a show about internet celebrity that was horribly glamorous—or, worse, one that belittled at the characters. The series steers clear of each, resulting in a representation of privileged twentysomething life that’s candid about the chaos and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
