The star joins the digital interview and right away begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, appearing genuinely regretful. She is only a bit behind, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” 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 hear. Besides, it’s quite expected. Viewers who know the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—which Sennott penned with the director and appeared in alongside her friend the talented actress—can already know that Sennott possesses much to share, be it about gender, intimacy, or the merits of forming a teen brawl society. And, after watching her latest eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds even more perspectives regarding the struggles of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she represents a relatable figure for this generation, straddling eras adept for straddling different age groups).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott readily acknowledges enthusiastic, naming the show together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for her series, which follows the travails of a social media star Tallulah and close companion and new agent portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the most significant presence on concept was reserved for Entourage, that HBO sitcom about an up-and-coming A-list actor making his way in a corrupt entertainment industry (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She started watching it amid lockdown, became “hooked”, 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 notes. The inspiration for the series emerged—partly—from personal, initially difficult, move to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for enthusiasts. This represented a phase that involved her learn significant life lessons, in her career and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” 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 was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott commenced writing and performing comedy while studying performance at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She decided to act independently, appearing at amateur nights with her friend and uploading uproarious (and decidedly) unconventional skits digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely fixated on motherhood; a different one envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a scary movie. By chance, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the intense thriller. The big theme of her career, she explains, has been peers giving her a shot, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who had doubts regarding Sennott earlier will surely be regretting it currently. As part of she describes as a “astonishingly complete” story, she has created her dream vehicle. A few years back she shared a clip titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers balancing advantages of online celebrity (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and perhaps becoming a unreliable outcast). One might tempting to create a series about digital influence that was overly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a portrait of privileged young adult living that’s frank about the mess and the glamour.
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
