The performer appears on the digital interview and immediately begins an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, appearing really remorseful. Despite being only slightly late, she feels compelled to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s exactly what is ideal to hear. Besides, it’s fairly predictable. Those who have seen the unapologetically openly gay and brash film Bottoms—which she penned with her creative partner and appeared in together with close companion Ayo Edebiri—would understand that she holds a lot to say, be it on identity, intimacy, or the appeal of starting a teen fight club. Plus, once you finish her new multi-episode program I Love LA, it is clear that she carries additional thoughts on the struggles of Gen Z life (At 30, Sennott represents a bridge for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for connecting both generations).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, referencing it together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as influences for the project, which follows the journey of a social media star Tallulah and close companion who is also new talent manager Maia. However, the biggest spot on the moodboard went to the HBO series, the HBO sitcom focusing on a rising A-list actor succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it amid lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist 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 concept for the series came—to some extent—from her own, initially fractious, relocation to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about occurrence for followers. It was a phase that involved her understand some big life lessons, in her career and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” 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 …”
Humble Origins
Raised in the East Coast, the star started developing and showcasing comedy while enrolled in theatre at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She seized control, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and uploading uproarious (and very) bizarre skits on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed characters fetishistically drawn to having babies; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being caught in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually appearing in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a funeral gathering with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been peers supporting her, rather than traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, adding humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who questioned regarding Sennott previously will likely be feeling foolish currently. As part of she describes as a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have created her dream vehicle. In 2019 she shared a video named about Los Angeles on social media, in which she mocked movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a series about Angelenos balancing benefits of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). One might tempting to create a show about digital influence that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that mocked at its subjects. I Love LA steers clear of each, making for a portrait of affluent twentysomething life that’s honest about the grot and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” she comments. “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
