The performer joins the video call and at once starts an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, sounding really apologetic. She is only a bit late, she feels compelled to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, in this context, that’s exactly what one hopes to experience. Besides, it’s quite unsurprising. Viewers familiar with her fearlessly openly gay and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with the director and starred in with close companion the talented actress—can be aware that she possesses a lot to discuss, ranging from on identity, relationships, or the merits of creating a teen brawl society. Furthermore, by the end her latest multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that the star has even more perspectives on the struggles of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she represents an honorary member for this generation, on the cusp adept for straddling both generations).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being a fan, citing the show in addition to the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as guides for her series, which tracks the struggles of online personality Tallulah and her friend who is also fledgling agent portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the biggest influence on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, that show focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in a gritty entertainment industry (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott started watching it during lockdown, became “hooked”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The idea for this project originated—in part—from her own, originally fractious, move to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a popular phenomenon for followers. It was a time that included her learn major truths, professionally and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Brought up in New England, Sennott began developing and showcasing humor while enrolled in acting 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 states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. 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.”
She took matters into her own hands, appearing at live shows with her friend and posting hilarious (and distinctly) weird online content on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on several females fetishistically fixated on motherhood; a different one imagined working at the brand Hollister as similar to being stuck in a horror film. By chance, she met Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a religious event with shades of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her career, she says, has been contemporaries supporting her, instead of established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who had doubts about Sennott previously will likely be kicking themselves currently. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have created the perfect project. In 2019 she posted a clip called about Los Angeles online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about LA residents juggling advantages of digital stardom (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being accused of being a substance-abusing stealer, and potentially becoming a unreliable persona non grata). One might tempting to produce a program about online fame that was horribly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, creating a representation of affluent twentysomething existence that’s frank about the mess and the appeal.
Empathetic Approach
“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
