The performer enters the online meeting and at once begins an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, seeming really apologetic. Despite being only slightly delayed, she feels compelled 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 quite expected. Viewers who know her boldly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—which she co-wrote with the director and starred in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—will be aware that she has plenty to share, ranging from about gender, sex, or the merits of forming a youth combat group. Furthermore, once you finish the recent multi-episode program I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds additional insights regarding the darker side of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she is an honorary member for this generation, a tale-end millennial skilled for connecting both generations).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott readily acknowledges an admirer, citing it alongside the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as guides for her series, which follows the struggles of online personality Tallulah and ally and aspiring agent portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the most significant presence on the moodboard was reserved for the HBO series, the program depicting a rising A-list actor making his way in a corrupt LA scene (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it during lockdown, became “obsessed”, and decided to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The inspiration for I Love LA emerged—partly—from personal, initially difficult, relocation to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for followers. That period marked a phase that saw her understand significant life lessons, work-wise and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “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
Raised in the East Coast, the star started developing and showcasing comedy while pursuing theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott seized control, appearing at open mics with Edebiri and sharing hysterical (and very) bizarre comedy videos digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed a group of women obsessively obsessed with motherhood; another portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a religious event with echoes of the intense thriller. The big theme of her path, she says, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, instead of established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who had doubts about her earlier will certainly be kicking themselves now. Through she describes as a “wild, full-circle” development, she appears to manifested her dream vehicle. A few years back she uploaded a video named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about city dwellers managing the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your associate being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). Some could easy to create a series about online fame that was extremely aspirational—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. The series does neither, making for a portrait of affluent millennial existence that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
