The star enters the online meeting and at once begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, appearing genuinely regretful. Despite being only a bit behind, she feels compelled to justify. “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!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is just what you want to encounter. Moreover, it’s quite unsurprising. Viewers who know her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and outspoken film Bottoms—which she penned with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside collaborator The Bear’s standout—will already know that Sennott holds much to discuss, ranging from about gender, relationships, or the merits of forming a high-school brawl society. Plus, once you finish her latest seasonal program titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds additional perspectives regarding the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott serves as a relatable figure to younger audiences, straddling eras with a knack for connecting different age groups).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and Sennott admits to being a fan, referencing it alongside Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as inspirations for her series, which details the journey of a social media star Tallulah and ally and aspiring talent manager Sennott’s character. However, the largest influence on creative vision belonged to the HBO series, that HBO sitcom depicting an emerging celebrity succeeding in an often-seedy entertainment industry (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it throughout lockdown, became “captivated”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The concept for this project came—partly—from personal, at first fractious, move to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for followers. That period marked an era that involved her learn some big truths, in her career and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott commenced creating and acting stand-up while enrolled in acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at open mics with Edebiri and uploading uproarious (and decidedly) weird comedy videos digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, followed several females fetishistically drawn to motherhood; another envisioned being employed at the brand Hollister as akin to being trapped in a scary movie. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and ended up featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her journey, she explains, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she repeats, continuing with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who were skeptical about her previously will surely be kicking themselves currently. In what she labels a “incredibly circular” development, she has created her dream vehicle. A few years back she shared content titled “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she mocked movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a show about Angelenos juggling benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and potentially becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be easy to make a series about online fame that was overly idealized—or, more problematic, one that punched down at the characters. I Love LA does neither, creating a depiction of affluent millennial existence that’s honest about the chaos and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
