The star enters the digital interview and at once starts an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, seeming genuinely apologetic. Although she's only a bit late, she wants to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, in this context, that’s just what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s fairly unsurprising. Viewers who have seen the boldly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and starred in together with collaborator The Bear’s standout—will be aware that she possesses much to share, ranging from about gender, intimacy, or the appeal of forming a teen fight club. Plus, once you finish her new seasonal HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she has additional thoughts about the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott is a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp with a knack for straddling both generations).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and the actress is a fan, citing it alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which follows the journey of online personality Tallulah and her friend and new talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the biggest spot on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, the show about an up-and-coming A-list actor succeeding in a corrupt Hollywood (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She began viewing it amid lockdown, became “hooked”, and chose to create a new version 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 says. The concept for this project came—partly—from her own, originally fractious, relocation to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a popular event for astrology heads. This represented a time that involved her grasp major insights, professionally and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” 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 …”
Starting Out
Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott started writing and performing stand-up 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 says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott seized control, performing at amateur nights with Edebiri and uploading uproarious (and very) bizarre skits digitally. One, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women intensely drawn to pregnancy; another portrayed being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her journey, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, rather than traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, adding with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who had doubts about her then will likely be regretting it today. As part of she calls a “wild, full-circle” development, she has achieved an ideal role. Previously she posted a video titled on LA life online, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers balancing the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being accused of being a intoxicated criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). It would be simple to make a series about internet celebrity that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at the characters. This show does neither, making for a depiction of privileged young adult existence that’s honest about the chaos and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“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
