The performer appears on the digital interview and at once launches into an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, appearing truly regretful. She is only slightly late, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, during an interview, this is exactly what you want to experience. Besides, it’s quite expected. Those familiar with the boldly queer and brash movie Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and starred in together with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would already know that she has plenty to discuss, ranging from on roles, relationships, or the appeal of forming a teen fight club. Plus, by the end her latest eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she carries even more insights on the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, she is a bridge to younger audiences, on the cusp skilled for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, naming it in addition to the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and ally and aspiring agent portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the largest influence on concept went to Entourage, that program depicting an up-and-coming celebrity succeeding in a gritty LA scene (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it amid COVID-19, became “captivated”, and decided to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The inspiration for I Love LA emerged—to some extent—from firsthand, at first rocky, relocation to Tinseltown and from the saturn return, a much-talked-about phenomenon for followers. It was an era that saw her grasp major truths, work-wise and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott began creating and acting humor while studying acting at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott seized control, taking the stage at amateur nights with her friend and uploading uproarious (and very) weird comedy videos digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed characters fetishistically obsessed with having babies; another envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through campus film circles and eventually appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her career, she explains, has been contemporaries supporting her, rather than established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, stating amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Those who were skeptical about her earlier will likely be regretting it currently. Through she labels a “incredibly circular” development, she seems to have created an ideal role. Previously she uploaded a clip titled on LA life online, in which she parodied film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a show about Angelenos juggling the perks of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being labeled as being a intoxicated criminal, and possibly becoming a risky outcast). One might simple to produce a program about internet celebrity that was horribly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA avoids both, creating a depiction of privileged young adult life that’s frank about the grot and the glamour.
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 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
