The actress and writer discussing her uproarious show about the chaotic appeal of today's youth life
The star appears on the video call and immediately launches into an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, sounding genuinely regretful. She is only slightly late, she feels compelled to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s just what one hopes to encounter. Moreover, it’s quite predictable. Anyone who have seen her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—which Sennott penned with the director and featured in together with her friend the talented actress—will already know that Sennott has a lot to say, be it on roles, intimacy, or the appeal of forming a teen combat group. Plus, by the end her new seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star carries further insights on the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott serves as an honorary member to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial skilled for straddling different age groups).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, referencing the show together with the HBO hit, Insecure and the innovative program as influences for I Love LA, which details the journey of online personality Tallulah and ally who is also new representative Sennott’s character. Notably, the most significant spot on creative vision went to the HBO series, the show about a rising Hollywood star making his way in a gritty entertainment industry (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott started watching it during lockdown, became “hooked”, and decided to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The idea for this project came—partly—from her own, initially rocky, move to LA and from the astrological phase, a popular event for astrology heads. That period marked a time that saw her grasp significant truths, in her career and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in New England, the star commenced writing and performing stand-up while studying theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” 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. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at live shows with Ayo and uploading hysterical (and very) bizarre skits online. One, Baby Cult, depicted several females fetishistically obsessed with motherhood; another portrayed being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being trapped in a thriller. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a religious event with echoes of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her journey, she says, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, rather than traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who were skeptical regarding Sennott earlier will likely be kicking themselves currently. In what she describes as a “astonishingly complete” development, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted a clip called about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she mocked film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a comedy about LA residents managing the perks of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing thief, and perhaps becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be tempting to produce a program about online fame that was horribly glamorous—or, worse, one that belittled at its subjects. This show avoids both, resulting in a representation of affluent millennial existence that’s frank about the mess and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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