The star joins the online meeting and immediately starts an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, sounding really remorseful. She is only slightly delayed, she needs to clarify. “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, for a writer, that’s precisely what you want to hear. Besides, it’s fairly expected. Viewers who know her fearlessly openly gay and outspoken project titled Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside collaborator the talented actress—will understand that Sennott has a lot to share, be it about roles, relationships, or the pros of forming a high-school fight club. And, once you finish the recent multi-episode program I Love LA, viewers realize that the star carries even more insights on the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she serves as an honorary member for this generation, on the cusp adept for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being a fan, referencing it together with the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as guides for the project, which follows the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and close companion and aspiring talent manager Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest presence on concept went to Entourage, the program about an up-and-coming celebrity making his way in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it amid COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The inspiration for this project emerged—partly—from firsthand, at first rocky, relocation to LA and from the saturn return, a much-talked-about phenomenon for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that saw her learn some big life lessons, in her career and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” 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…”
Humble Origins
Growing up in New England, the star started creating and acting stand-up while enrolled in acting at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at live shows with Ayo and posting hysterical (and very) weird comedy videos digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted characters intensely drawn to motherhood; a different one imagined being employed at the brand Hollister as akin to being stuck in a thriller. By chance, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been peers supporting her, rather than traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, adding amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who had doubts regarding her earlier will likely be regretting it currently. In what she calls a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she seems to have created her dream vehicle. In 2019 she shared content titled on LA life on the internet, in which she mocked movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a series about Angelenos managing the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing criminal, and possibly becoming a unreliable pariah). Some could simple to make a program about digital influence that was overly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at those depicted. I Love LA steers clear of each, making for a depiction of privileged young adult living that’s candid about the mess and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
