The star enters the online meeting and immediately starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, sounding truly remorseful. She is only a bit delayed, she needs to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s just what you want to hear. Moreover, it’s quite predictable. Viewers who have seen her fearlessly queer and outspoken project Bottoms—that she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—will understand that Sennott possesses a lot to share, whether on roles, sex, or the merits of starting a teen fight club. And, after watching her new multi-episode program titled I Love LA, it is clear that she holds additional thoughts on the struggles of modern youth (Now in her thirties, she represents a relatable figure of the gang, a tale-end millennial skilled for connecting different age groups).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott is a fan, citing it together with the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the struggles of online personality Tallulah and her friend and fledgling talent manager Maia. Perhaps, the most significant presence on the moodboard belonged to Entourage, the program depicting a rising celebrity succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it amid COVID-19, became “hooked”, and decided to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The concept for this project came—in part—from personal, at first fractious, move to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a much-talked-about event for astrology heads. This represented an era that included her learn some big insights, work-wise and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott commenced writing and performing comedy while enrolled in performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She took matters into her own hands, appearing at live shows with her friend and posting hysterical (and distinctly) bizarre online content online. One, Baby Cult, followed characters obsessively fixated on having babies; a different one envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being caught in a scary movie. Interestingly, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the intense thriller. The big theme of her path, she notes, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, adding humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who had doubts regarding Sennott previously will likely be regretting it today. As part of she calls a “wild, full-circle” development, she has achieved an ideal role. In 2019 she uploaded a video titled “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about Angelenos managing benefits of digital stardom (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a intoxicated stealer, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be tempting to create a series about internet celebrity that was overly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA avoids both, creating a portrait of advantaged young adult living that’s candid about the grot and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“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
