The star joins the digital interview and at once launches into an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, sounding truly remorseful. She is only slightly delayed, she needs to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is exactly what you want to hear. Additionally, it’s quite predictable. Those who know her fearlessly openly gay and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—which Sennott penned with the director and featured in with close companion Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that Sennott has a lot to discuss, ranging from about gender, intimacy, or the pros of forming a youth fight club. Plus, once you finish her new eight-part show titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds additional perspectives on the struggles of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she is an honorary member for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, referencing it alongside the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as inspirations for I Love LA, which tracks the travails of online personality Tallulah and ally and new agent Maia. However, the biggest presence on concept was reserved for Entourage, the show about an emerging Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She started watching it during lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The idea for I Love LA emerged—in part—from her own, initially rocky, transition to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about phenomenon for astrology heads. That period marked an era that involved her grasp significant insights, professionally and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “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…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in Connecticut, the star began writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at live shows with Ayo and sharing uproarious (and very) bizarre skits on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed characters obsessively drawn to pregnancy; a different one envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being stuck in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a religious event with echoes of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her path, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, rather than the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who questioned regarding Sennott earlier will likely be regretting it today. In what she labels a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to manifested the perfect project. In 2019 she posted a clip named “it’s LA” online, in which she mocked movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a series about Angelenos balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your associate being suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a risky outcast). Some could simple to create a show about digital influence that was overly aspirational—or, worse, one that punched down at those depicted. The series steers clear of each, making for a representation of privileged twentysomething existence that’s honest about the chaos and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
