The star appears on the video call and immediately starts an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, appearing genuinely remorseful. She is only a bit behind, she needs to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s precisely what is ideal to experience. Moreover, it’s fairly expected. Anyone familiar with the unapologetically queer and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—which she penned with the director and appeared in alongside close companion Ayo Edebiri—can already know that she has a lot to discuss, be it about gender, relationships, or the pros of starting a teen brawl society. And, by the end the new multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that the star carries further thoughts regarding the struggles of modern youth (At 30, she serves as an honorary member to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott admits to being an admirer, citing it in addition to the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the travails of an influencer Tallulah and her friend and aspiring representative Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest influence on creative vision went to the HBO series, the HBO sitcom depicting an up-and-coming Hollywood star navigating in an often-seedy entertainment industry (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it during the pandemic, became “hooked”, and chose 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 says. The idea for the series came—partly—from firsthand, at first fractious, transition to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. It was an era that saw her grasp major truths, professionally and personally. “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 resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Raised in Connecticut, the star started creating and acting comedy while pursuing performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott decided to act independently, performing at amateur nights with her friend and uploading hilarious (and decidedly) weird comedy videos online. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed characters obsessively obsessed with motherhood; a different one portrayed being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who were skeptical about Sennott previously will likely be regretting it now. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she has created her dream vehicle. Previously she shared a video named about Los Angeles on social media, in which she lampooned film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers juggling advantages of internet fame (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your associate being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be easy to produce a show about digital influence that was extremely glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at those depicted. The series does neither, resulting in a representation of affluent millennial life that’s candid about the mess and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“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
