The performer enters the video call and immediately begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, appearing really apologetic. She is only a bit late, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s precisely what is ideal to experience. Besides, it’s fairly predictable. Anyone familiar with her fearlessly queer and brash film titled Bottoms—which she collaborated on with her creative partner and featured in with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would understand that Sennott has much to say, whether about roles, relationships, or the merits of starting a teen combat group. And, once you finish her new multi-episode HBO series titled I Love LA, it is clear that she has additional thoughts on the darker side of modern youth (At 30, she serves as a bridge for this generation, straddling eras adept for connecting both generations).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, referencing it alongside Sex and the City, Insecure and the innovative program as inspirations for the project, which tracks the travails of an influencer Tallulah and her friend and new agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest influence on the moodboard was reserved for Entourage, that program focusing on a rising A-list actor making his way in a corrupt entertainment industry (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it amid COVID-19, 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 explains. The concept for the series emerged—in part—from her own, at first difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about occurrence for followers. It was an era that involved her understand major life lessons, work-wise and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “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 Connecticut, Sennott commenced creating and acting stand-up while studying theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at live shows with her friend and uploading hilarious (and very) bizarre comedy videos online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women obsessively drawn to motherhood; a different one portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being trapped in a scary movie. By chance, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and eventually appearing in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her journey, she explains, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, continuing humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who had doubts regarding her previously will surely be regretting it currently. In what she calls a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she seems to have manifested an ideal role. Previously she shared content titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers balancing the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being accused of being a substance-abusing criminal, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be simple to produce a series about online fame that was extremely glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at its subjects. The series steers clear of each, making for a representation of affluent twentysomething existence that’s honest about the grot 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
