The star enters the video call and at once begins an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, sounding really remorseful. She is only a bit behind, she feels compelled to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s exactly what you want to experience. Besides, it’s fairly predictable. Anyone who know the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and brash film Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with the director and featured in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—will already know that Sennott possesses plenty to discuss, be it about identity, relationships, or the merits of forming a teen fight club. Plus, after watching her new eight-part HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has even more insights about the struggles of young adulthood (As a millennial, she represents an honorary member for this generation, on the cusp adept for connecting both generations).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being an admirer, citing it alongside Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as inspirations for the project, which tracks the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and close companion and fledgling representative Maia. Perhaps, the biggest presence on concept went to the popular sitcom, the show depicting an up-and-coming celebrity succeeding in an often-seedy LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it amid lockdown, became “obsessed”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The idea for the series emerged—in part—from her own, at first rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from the saturn return, a much-talked-about occurrence for enthusiasts. It was a time that included her grasp some big insights, professionally and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “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 …”
Early Beginnings
Raised in New England, Sennott started developing and showcasing stand-up while pursuing theatre at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She decided to act independently, performing at live shows with Ayo and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) bizarre online content digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, followed several females obsessively drawn to pregnancy; a different one envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being stuck in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her path, she notes, has been peers offering opportunities, rather than traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who were skeptical about her earlier will likely be feeling foolish now. Through she labels a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she has achieved the perfect project. In 2019 she posted content titled on LA life on the internet, 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 LA residents managing the perks of internet fame (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and perhaps becoming a risky outcast). Some could easy to create a show about online fame that was extremely aspirational—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. This show does neither, resulting in a depiction of advantaged twentysomething living that’s frank about the chaos 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 says. “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
