The performer appears on the online meeting and right away begins an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, sounding truly remorseful. She is only a bit delayed, she needs to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, during an interview, that’s just what is ideal to experience. Additionally, it’s quite expected. Anyone who know her boldly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—which she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in alongside collaborator The Bear’s standout—will be aware that Sennott possesses plenty to say, be it about gender, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a youth combat group. Furthermore, once you finish her latest seasonal show titled I Love LA, it is clear that she carries even more thoughts about the darker side of modern youth (As a millennial, she serves as an honorary member for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Parallels to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress is a fan, naming the show together with the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which tracks the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and her friend and fledgling agent Maia. Notably, the largest influence on the moodboard belonged to Entourage, that program depicting a rising Hollywood star navigating in a corrupt Hollywood (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott started watching it during lockdown, became “hooked”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The idea for this project originated—partly—from firsthand, at first fractious, move to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a popular phenomenon for followers. It was a phase that saw her grasp major truths, work-wise and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Brought up in the East Coast, the star started developing and showcasing humor while pursuing performance at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She took matters into her own hands, appearing at open mics with her friend and sharing uproarious (and very) weird comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women obsessively drawn to motherhood; another portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being stuck in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she says, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who questioned regarding Sennott earlier will certainly be regretting it now. In what she calls a “wild, full-circle” development, she seems to have achieved an ideal role. A few years back she uploaded a video called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a comedy about city dwellers managing advantages of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). Some could tempting to produce a program about online fame that was extremely glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, making for a portrait of privileged twentysomething life that’s frank about the chaos and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
