The star joins the video call and right away launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, seeming truly remorseful. Although she's only a couple of minutes late, she wants to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s exactly what you want to encounter. Moreover, it’s pretty expected. Viewers who know the fearlessly openly gay and outspoken movie Bottoms—that she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside her friend the talented actress—would already know that Sennott possesses a lot to say, ranging from on roles, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a teen combat group. Furthermore, by the end her new seasonal HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star has even more perspectives on the challenges of modern youth (At 30, Sennott is an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp with a knack for connecting different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott is an admirer, referencing it together with Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as guides for the project, which tracks the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and her friend who is also aspiring talent manager Maia. However, the biggest presence on concept went to Entourage, the program about an emerging Hollywood star making his way in a corrupt LA scene (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She started watching it amid 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 explains. The inspiration for I Love LA originated—to some extent—from personal, initially fractious, relocation to LA and from her saturn return, a popular occurrence for astrology heads. This represented a time that saw her understand significant life lessons, work-wise and personally. “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 resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Brought up in New England, Sennott commenced writing and performing humor while pursuing acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with Edebiri and uploading hysterical (and very) weird online content online. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females intensely drawn to having babies; another imagined being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being caught in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a religious event with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her career, she explains, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, adding with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who were skeptical about her earlier will likely be regretting it today. As part of she labels a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she seems to have created her dream vehicle. Previously she posted a clip called on LA life on the internet, in which she mocked movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a series about LA residents managing the perks of online celebrity (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your client being accused of being a drug-addled thief, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). Some could tempting to make a series about internet celebrity that was horribly idealized—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. The series does neither, making for a representation of affluent twentysomething living that’s honest about the mess and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
