The star enters the video call and at once launches into an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, seeming really regretful. Despite being only a couple of minutes delayed, she needs to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, during an interview, this is just what is ideal to hear. Moreover, it’s fairly expected. Those who have seen the unapologetically queer and brash movie Bottoms—which she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and appeared in with her friend the talented actress—can understand that she has much to discuss, be it about identity, intimacy, or the pros of creating a high-school fight club. Furthermore, by the end the latest multi-episode show I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has further perspectives regarding the challenges of modern youth (At 30, she serves as an honorary member to younger audiences, straddling eras with a knack for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, citing it alongside Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as guides for I Love LA, which follows the struggles of online personality Tallulah and her friend who is also fledgling talent manager Maia. Perhaps, the biggest spot on the moodboard was reserved for Entourage, the show focusing on an emerging celebrity making his way in a corrupt Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it throughout COVID-19, became “captivated”, and resolved to put her own twist 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 says. The inspiration for this project emerged—in part—from her own, originally difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a popular event for astrology heads. It was an era that included her understand significant truths, professionally and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott commenced developing and showcasing comedy while enrolled in acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “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?”
Sennott seized control, taking the stage at live shows with Edebiri and uploading uproarious (and decidedly) bizarre comedy videos online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women obsessively drawn to pregnancy; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being trapped in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a religious event with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her path, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, as opposed to the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, adding humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Those who were skeptical regarding her previously will likely be regretting it now. In what she calls a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she seems to have achieved an ideal role. A few years back she posted a video named on LA life on the internet, in which she mocked film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a series about Angelenos juggling benefits of internet fame (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being suspected of being a substance-abusing stealer, and perhaps becoming a risky pariah). One might simple to make a series about internet celebrity that was extremely idealized—or, worse, one that belittled at the characters. The series does neither, resulting in a representation of advantaged young adult life that’s candid about the chaos and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“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
