The star enters the digital interview and at once launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, sounding truly regretful. Despite being only slightly behind, she feels compelled to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, for a writer, this is just what one hopes to encounter. Besides, it’s fairly unsurprising. Viewers familiar with her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and brash movie Bottoms—that she penned with Emma Seligman and starred in together with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—will understand that she possesses a lot to discuss, whether on identity, relationships, or the appeal of forming a teen brawl society. Plus, after watching the new multi-episode program I Love LA, viewers realize that she carries additional thoughts regarding the struggles of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp skilled for bridging both generations).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress admits to being an admirer, naming it in addition to Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for the project, which tracks the journey of a social media star Tallulah and her friend who is also fledgling talent manager Maia. Perhaps, the largest influence on concept went to the HBO series, that show focusing on an emerging celebrity navigating in a corrupt LA scene (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it amid COVID-19, became “hooked”, and decided to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The idea for this project originated—in part—from her own, originally fractious, transition to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about occurrence for astrology heads. This represented a phase that saw her learn significant insights, professionally and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Growing up in Connecticut, the star started developing and showcasing stand-up while pursuing theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. 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?”
Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at open mics with Edebiri and sharing uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre online content digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females intensely fixated on pregnancy; a different one portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a scary movie. By chance, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. The big theme of her career, she notes, has been peers giving her a shot, rather than established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she repeats, continuing with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who questioned about Sennott then will surely be regretting it now. In what she describes as a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she seems to have manifested the perfect project. In 2019 she shared a clip called “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a series about LA residents managing the perks of internet fame (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). It would be tempting to create a program about digital influence that was horribly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that punched down at those depicted. This show does neither, making for a representation of advantaged twentysomething existence that’s candid about the chaos and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
