The star appears on the online meeting and at once launches into an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, appearing truly remorseful. Despite being only a bit late, she wants to clarify. “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!” Thankfully, in this context, this is precisely what you want to encounter. Moreover, it’s pretty predictable. Those who know her unapologetically openly gay and outspoken film Bottoms—that Sennott penned with the director and appeared in with close companion The Bear’s standout—will already know that Sennott possesses much to share, whether on identity, sex, or the pros of creating a teen brawl society. Furthermore, once you finish the latest multi-episode program titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star carries additional thoughts regarding the struggles of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as an honorary member to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial with a knack for bridging both generations).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott is a fan, citing the show in addition to the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for the project, which tracks the travails of online personality Tallulah and close companion and new agent Maia. Notably, the largest spot on creative vision belonged to the HBO series, that HBO sitcom about an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in a gritty LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it amid lockdown, became “hooked”, and decided 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 this project came—in part—from personal, initially fractious, relocation to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a popular phenomenon for followers. This represented a phase that involved her understand major truths, professionally 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
Raised in New England, Sennott started writing and performing humor while pursuing theatre at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “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. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, performing at amateur nights with Edebiri and sharing uproarious (and distinctly) weird skits digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women obsessively obsessed with motherhood; a different one imagined being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being trapped in a horror film. Interestingly, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a religious event with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age offering opportunities, instead of established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, continuing with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who had doubts about her then will likely be kicking themselves now. In what she describes as a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she appears to manifested her dream vehicle. Previously she posted content called on LA life online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about LA residents managing advantages of internet fame (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being labeled as being a substance-abusing stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable outcast). Some could simple to create a show about online fame that was overly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at the characters. I Love LA does neither, making for a representation of affluent millennial life that’s honest about the mess and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
