The performer enters the online meeting and at once begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, appearing really regretful. Although she's only slightly behind, 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!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is precisely what is ideal to encounter. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Viewers who know her boldly LGBTQ+ and brash movie titled Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and featured in with close companion Ayo Edebiri—will understand that Sennott has a lot to share, whether about identity, intimacy, or the merits of creating a teen fight club. Plus, by the end the latest eight-part show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she carries further perspectives regarding the challenges of young adulthood (As a millennial, she serves as a bridge for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, referencing the show alongside the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as influences for the project, which details the journey of an influencer Tallulah and her friend and new agent Maia. However, the largest presence on the moodboard belonged to Entourage, that show about a rising Hollywood star making his way in a gritty entertainment industry (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it during the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The inspiration for this project originated—in part—from firsthand, at first difficult, transition to Tinseltown and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about occurrence for followers. This represented a phase that saw her learn significant truths, professionally and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in the East Coast, the star started writing and performing comedy while pursuing performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She seized control, performing at live shows with Edebiri and sharing uproarious (and distinctly) weird comedy videos online. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted characters fetishistically fixated on having babies; another imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being stuck in a scary movie. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a religious event with shades of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her journey, she notes, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, rather than traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who were skeptical regarding Sennott then will likely be kicking themselves today. As part of she labels a “astonishingly complete” story, she has created her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted a video titled on LA life on social media, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a comedy about Angelenos managing advantages of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your friend being labeled as being a intoxicated criminal, and potentially becoming a risky persona non grata). It would be simple to make a series about digital influence that was overly glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, creating a portrait of affluent young adult existence that’s honest about the chaos and the appeal.
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 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
