The performer joins the online meeting and right away begins an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, appearing really regretful. Although she's only slightly delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s just what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Viewers familiar with the boldly queer and brash film Bottoms—that Sennott penned with her creative partner and appeared in with close companion the talented actress—would already know that Sennott possesses a lot to discuss, whether about roles, sex, or the appeal of starting a high-school fight club. And, after watching her new seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star has additional insights about the darker side of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she is a bridge of the gang, straddling eras with a knack for connecting different age groups).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Parallels to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being an admirer, referencing it together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as influences for I Love LA, which details the journey of a social media star Tallulah and close companion who is also new talent manager Maia. Perhaps, the largest presence on creative vision went to the HBO series, the HBO sitcom depicting an emerging Hollywood star navigating in a corrupt Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it during lockdown, became “captivated”, and resolved to create a new version 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 inspiration for the series originated—in part—from personal, initially difficult, relocation to LA and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed phenomenon for enthusiasts. That period marked a phase that involved her grasp significant insights, professionally and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “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 …”
Starting Out
Growing up in New England, the star started creating and acting humor while pursuing theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” 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 decided to act independently, taking the stage at open mics with Edebiri and sharing hilarious (and very) bizarre online content on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed a group of women fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; another envisioned being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually appearing in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her career, she says, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she repeats, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who questioned about her earlier will likely be kicking themselves today. As part of she labels a “astonishingly complete” development, she appears to manifested an ideal role. A few years back she posted content titled on LA life online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about Angelenos balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being suspected of being a substance-abusing thief, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). One might easy to make a show about online fame that was overly idealized—or, more problematic, one that mocked at those depicted. This show steers clear of each, making for a representation of privileged millennial life that’s candid about the grot and the glamour.
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
