The performer joins the online meeting and immediately starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, appearing truly remorseful. She is only slightly late, she feels compelled to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is precisely what is ideal to experience. Moreover, it’s fairly unsurprising. Those familiar with the boldly queer and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—that Sennott penned with her creative partner and starred in with her friend Ayo Edebiri—can understand that she holds a lot to share, be it on roles, sex, or the appeal of forming a high-school combat group. Furthermore, by the end the new seasonal HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds further thoughts regarding the struggles of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a relatable figure of the gang, a tale-end millennial skilled for straddling both generations).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Parallels to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress admits to being an admirer, referencing the show together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as influences for I Love LA, which tracks the struggles of online personality Tallulah and her friend who is also aspiring talent manager Sennott’s character. However, the biggest presence on concept was reserved for the HBO series, the program focusing on an emerging celebrity succeeding in an often-seedy LA scene (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it throughout COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and resolved to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The idea for the series originated—to some extent—from personal, initially rocky, move to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about phenomenon for astrology heads. This represented a time that included her understand significant life lessons, work-wise and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott commenced developing and showcasing comedy while studying acting 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.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and sharing hysterical (and very) weird comedy videos on the internet. One, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically obsessed with motherhood; another envisioned working at the brand Hollister as like being stuck in a scary movie. By chance, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and ended up featuring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her journey, she explains, has been people her own age giving her a shot, rather than the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who had doubts about her then will certainly be kicking themselves now. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. Previously she uploaded content named on LA life on social media, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about Angelenos managing benefits of internet fame (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being labeled as being a substance-abusing thief, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). One might tempting to create a show about online fame that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. This show avoids both, creating a portrait of privileged young adult existence that’s frank about the chaos and the appeal.
Empathetic Approach
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
