The performer joins the video call and at once launches into an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely remorseful. Although she's only slightly late, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, in this context, this is just what you want to encounter. Besides, it’s fairly expected. Anyone who know the unapologetically openly gay and outspoken project titled Bottoms—which she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and featured in with her friend Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that she holds much to share, whether on gender, sex, or the appeal of forming a high-school brawl society. Plus, after watching the recent eight-part show I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has further insights on the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott represents a bridge for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for straddling both generations).
Influences and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and Sennott is a fan, naming it alongside the classic series, Insecure and Atlanta as guides for the project, which tracks the struggles of online personality Tallulah and her friend and aspiring representative Sennott’s character. Notably, the biggest influence on concept belonged to the HBO series, the program about an emerging Hollywood star navigating in a corrupt entertainment industry (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it amid lockdown, became “captivated”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective 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 concept for the series emerged—in part—from her own, originally fractious, transition to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a popular occurrence for astrology heads. It was a phase that saw her learn major insights, professionally and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” 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 …”
Humble Origins
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott commenced creating and acting comedy while enrolled in acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “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, performing at open mics with Edebiri and sharing hilarious (and very) unconventional skits digitally. One, Baby Cult, centered on several females intensely drawn to motherhood; another imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a religious event with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her career, she notes, has been peers supporting her, instead of the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, adding with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who questioned about her previously will likely be kicking themselves currently. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she has created an ideal role. In 2019 she shared a clip named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she lampooned film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers managing the perks of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and possibly becoming a risky persona non grata). It would be easy to make a series about internet celebrity that was horribly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. I Love LA steers clear of each, resulting in a portrait of affluent millennial life that’s honest about the mess and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“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
