The star enters the online meeting and immediately starts an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming really remorseful. She is only a bit behind, she feels compelled to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, in this context, that’s exactly what you want to experience. Moreover, it’s fairly predictable. Anyone who have seen her fearlessly openly gay and brash film Bottoms—which she co-wrote with the director and starred in together with close companion Ayo Edebiri—would understand that she has plenty to say, be it about roles, relationships, or the merits of creating a high-school brawl society. Plus, once you finish her recent eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds even more thoughts regarding the challenges of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she represents a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott is enthusiastic, naming the show alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and the innovative program as guides for I Love LA, which details the journey of an influencer Tallulah and close companion who is also new agent Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the largest influence on concept was reserved for the popular sitcom, the program focusing on a rising A-list actor succeeding in a gritty entertainment industry (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it amid lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The idea for the series originated—to some extent—from firsthand, at first fractious, transition to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about phenomenon for followers. It was a time that saw her understand some big truths, work-wise and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in New England, Sennott began creating and acting comedy while pursuing acting at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “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.”
Sennott seized control, appearing at amateur nights with her friend and uploading hilarious (and distinctly) weird comedy videos digitally. One, Baby Cult, centered on characters intensely fixated on having babies; another portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being stuck in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her career, she says, has been peers giving her a shot, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, stating with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Those who had doubts regarding Sennott then will certainly be kicking themselves today. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted a video named about Los Angeles online, in which she parodied movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a series about LA residents balancing benefits of internet fame (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled thief, and possibly becoming a unreliable pariah). Some could simple to produce a series about online fame that was overly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that punched down at those depicted. I Love LA steers clear of each, making for a portrait of affluent twentysomething existence that’s candid about the chaos and the glamour.
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
