The performer joins the digital interview and immediately starts an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, sounding truly apologetic. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, she feels compelled to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s precisely what one hopes to encounter. Besides, it’s fairly unsurprising. Those familiar with the unapologetically queer and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside her friend the talented actress—can understand that Sennott possesses a lot to say, be it about identity, relationships, or the appeal of starting a high-school fight club. Plus, by the end her recent eight-part show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has even more thoughts about the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she represents an honorary member of the gang, on the cusp skilled for bridging different age groups).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott is a fan, citing it alongside Sex and the City, Insecure and the innovative program as guides for I Love LA, which details the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and her friend who is also fledgling agent Maia. However, the most significant spot on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, the HBO sitcom depicting an up-and-coming celebrity succeeding in a gritty LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott started watching it during the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose 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 the series originated—in part—from her own, initially difficult, relocation to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. This represented an era that saw her learn some big truths, in her career and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Growing up in Connecticut, the star commenced writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in acting at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She decided to act independently, appearing at amateur nights with her friend and uploading uproarious (and very) weird comedy videos digitally. One, Baby Cult, centered on characters intensely drawn to pregnancy; another imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through campus film circles and ultimately featuring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a religious event with shades of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her path, she says, has been peers offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, adding with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who were skeptical about Sennott previously will certainly be feeling foolish now. In what she calls a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she appears to manifested the perfect project. A few years back she shared a clip named on LA life online, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about LA residents managing the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). One might easy to make a program about digital influence that was horribly idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a portrait of affluent young adult life that’s frank about the chaos and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
