The star joins the online meeting and right away starts an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, seeming genuinely apologetic. Although she's only a couple of minutes delayed, she wants to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, during an interview, that’s precisely what one hopes to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty unsurprising. Viewers who know the unapologetically openly gay and brash project Bottoms—which Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and appeared in together with her friend the talented actress—can already know that she holds a lot to say, ranging from about roles, relationships, or the pros of creating a high-school combat group. Furthermore, once you finish her new eight-part show titled I Love LA, it is clear that she holds additional perspectives regarding the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a bridge of the gang, on the cusp with a knack for bridging different age groups).
Influences and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress is enthusiastic, naming it in addition to the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as inspirations for the project, which details the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and close companion and aspiring agent portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the largest presence on the moodboard went to Entourage, that HBO sitcom focusing on an up-and-coming A-list actor navigating in a gritty Hollywood (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it throughout lockdown, became “hooked”, and decided to add a fresh perspective 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 explains. The inspiration for the series emerged—to some extent—from personal, initially difficult, move to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about event for astrology heads. That period marked a time that saw her learn major truths, 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 resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Raised in Connecticut, the star started creating and acting humor while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with Ayo and posting hysterical (and decidedly) unconventional online content digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on several females intensely fixated on having babies; a different one envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as like being caught in a horror film. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a religious event with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her path, she says, has been peers giving her a shot, instead of the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who were skeptical about her previously will certainly be kicking themselves currently. As part of she describes as a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she has achieved the perfect project. Previously she uploaded a video titled on LA life on social media, in which she mocked film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a show about LA residents balancing the perks of digital stardom (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being labeled as being a substance-abusing stealer, and possibly becoming a unreliable pariah). Some could easy to make a series about online fame that was overly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at the characters. This show does neither, creating a representation of privileged young adult existence that’s frank about the mess and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she observes. “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
