The performer enters the digital interview and immediately begins an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, seeming really apologetic. She is only a bit late, she needs to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, in this context, this is just what you want to hear. Moreover, it’s fairly expected. Anyone familiar with her boldly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with her creative partner and starred in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that Sennott holds plenty to share, be it on gender, sex, or the pros of creating a teen brawl society. Furthermore, by the end her latest eight-part show titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star has further perspectives about the struggles of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as an honorary member for this generation, straddling eras adept for connecting different age groups).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being an admirer, naming the show in addition to the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the journey of an influencer Tallulah and close companion who is also new talent manager Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the most significant presence on concept belonged to the HBO series, that program depicting an up-and-coming A-list actor navigating in an often-seedy entertainment industry (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She began viewing it amid COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and decided to create a new version 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 explains. The idea for the series came—in part—from her own, at first difficult, transition to LA and from the saturn return, a much-talked-about occurrence for enthusiasts. It was an era that included her grasp some big truths, work-wise and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” 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 resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Raised in New England, Sennott commenced developing and showcasing comedy while enrolled in acting at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She decided to act independently, performing at live shows with Ayo and uploading uproarious (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos on the internet. One, Baby Cult, centered on a group of women obsessively obsessed with pregnancy; another imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being stuck in a scary movie. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a religious event with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her path, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, instead of established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Anyone who had doubts about Sennott previously will certainly be feeling foolish currently. Through she describes as a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she appears to created an ideal role. In 2019 she uploaded a clip called on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a series about city dwellers juggling the perks of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being accused of being a substance-abusing criminal, and possibly becoming a risky persona non grata). Some could tempting to make a show about online fame that was overly idealized—or, more problematic, one that punched down at the characters. The series steers clear of each, resulting in a portrait of advantaged twentysomething existence that’s frank about the mess and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” she observes. “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
