The performer appears on the online meeting and right away begins an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, sounding really apologetic. She is only a couple of minutes delayed, she wants to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, for a writer, this is just what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Those who know the boldly queer and brash movie Bottoms—that she collaborated on with her creative partner and starred in alongside close companion The Bear’s standout—will already know that Sennott possesses much to say, whether on identity, relationships, or the appeal of starting a high-school fight club. Plus, once you finish her latest eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that she holds additional thoughts on the struggles of Gen Z life (At 30, she serves as a bridge to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges enthusiastic, naming it together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the travails of a social media star Tallulah and close companion and new agent Maia. Notably, the most significant spot on concept went to the popular sitcom, that show focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it during the pandemic, became “captivated”, and resolved to put her own twist 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 explains. The idea for this project originated—to some extent—from her own, originally rocky, transition to LA and from her cosmic event, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. It was a phase that saw her learn significant truths, work-wise and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Brought up in the East Coast, the star began writing and performing humor while studying theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” 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, performing at live shows with her friend and posting hysterical (and distinctly) bizarre skits on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively drawn to motherhood; another envisioned working at the brand Hollister as akin to being stuck in a scary movie. By chance, she met Emma through campus film circles and ultimately featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a funeral gathering with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her journey, she explains, has been peers supporting her, as opposed to the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, adding with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who questioned regarding Sennott then will surely be kicking themselves currently. As part of she calls a “wild, full-circle” development, she has manifested her dream vehicle. A few years back she shared a clip called about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a series about Angelenos juggling benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and perhaps becoming a risky outcast). Some could tempting to produce a program about online fame that was extremely idealized—or, more problematic, one that mocked at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a representation of privileged millennial life that’s candid about the grot and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“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
