The star enters the video call and right away begins an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, sounding really apologetic. Although she's only slightly late, she needs to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, during an interview, that’s precisely what you want to hear. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Anyone familiar with her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with her creative partner and starred in alongside collaborator The Bear’s standout—will understand that she possesses plenty to discuss, be it about gender, sex, or the appeal of creating a youth combat group. Plus, by the end her latest seasonal show I Love LA, it is clear that the star has additional thoughts about the darker side of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott is a bridge of the gang, straddling eras with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Creative Vision
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress is an admirer, citing it together with the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which follows the travails of online personality Tallulah and ally who is also fledgling talent manager Maia. However, the largest influence on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, that show depicting a rising A-list actor making his way in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it during lockdown, became “hooked”, and chose to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The concept for I Love LA originated—in part—from firsthand, originally fractious, transition to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a popular phenomenon for enthusiasts. This represented a time that included her learn some big truths, professionally and in private life. “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…”
Starting Out
Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott began creating and acting humor while pursuing performance at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at live shows with Edebiri and posting uproarious (and decidedly) weird skits online. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted characters fetishistically obsessed with pregnancy; a different one envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being trapped in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and ultimately starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a religious event with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her career, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, as opposed to established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, adding humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Individuals who questioned about Sennott then will certainly be feeling foolish today. As part of she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she appears to achieved the perfect project. Previously she posted content called on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a series about LA residents juggling the perks of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your associate being labeled as being a intoxicated thief, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). It would be tempting to make a series about internet celebrity that was horribly idealized—or, more problematic, one that punched down at those depicted. I Love LA steers clear of each, resulting in a depiction of affluent millennial life that’s frank about the chaos and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” she comments. “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
