The star enters the online meeting and at once begins an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing really regretful. She is only slightly late, she wants to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, during an interview, that’s just what you want to experience. Moreover, it’s quite expected. Anyone familiar with her boldly queer and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—that Sennott penned with the director and starred in alongside collaborator the talented actress—would understand that she has plenty to say, ranging from about roles, sex, or the appeal of creating a high-school fight club. And, after watching the latest eight-part program titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star has even more thoughts on the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott is a bridge for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress admits to being an admirer, referencing the show alongside Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as inspirations for the project, which tracks the journey of an influencer Tallulah and close companion and fledgling representative portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the largest influence on the moodboard went to the HBO series, the show about a rising Hollywood star making his way in a corrupt LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it during the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective 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 explains. The inspiration for the series originated—in part—from firsthand, at first difficult, relocation to Tinseltown and from the saturn return, a popular event for astrology heads. This represented a phase that included her understand significant life lessons, in her career and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “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
Growing up in New England, Sennott started developing and showcasing comedy while pursuing theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She decided to act independently, appearing at live shows with Ayo and uploading hilarious (and very) bizarre skits digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on characters fetishistically obsessed with motherhood; another imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a scary movie. Interestingly, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a religious event with shades of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her career, she notes, has been peers giving her a shot, as opposed to traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who had doubts about Sennott then will surely be kicking themselves today. In what she describes as a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she appears to manifested the perfect project. Previously she uploaded a clip titled on LA life online, in which she lampooned film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a series about LA residents juggling the perks of digital stardom (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). One might tempting to produce a series about digital influence that was overly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at the characters. I Love LA does neither, creating a representation of advantaged young adult living that’s frank about the grot 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
