🔗 Share this article

The performer joins the video call and immediately begins an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, seeming genuinely remorseful. Although she's only a bit behind, 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, for a writer, this is just what you want to experience. Additionally, it’s quite unsurprising. Viewers who know her unapologetically queer and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—which Sennott penned with the director and appeared in with her friend The Bear’s standout—would understand that she holds plenty to say, be it on identity, intimacy, or the appeal of starting a youth brawl society. And, by the end the recent eight-part program I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds even more thoughts regarding the darker side of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she serves as an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp skilled for connecting different age groups).

Inspirations and Storytelling Approach

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott is a fan, citing the show in addition to the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as inspirations for I Love LA, which tracks the journey of a social media star Tallulah and close companion and fledgling talent manager Maia. Notably, the largest spot on creative vision was reserved for the HBO series, the show depicting an up-and-coming A-list actor navigating in a corrupt Hollywood (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it amid the pandemic, became “captivated”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective 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 this project emerged—in part—from her own, initially rocky, transition to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about phenomenon for astrology heads. This represented a time that included her understand some big life lessons, work-wise and personally. “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. It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Starting Out

Raised in the East Coast, the star commenced developing and showcasing comedy while pursuing theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at open mics with Ayo and uploading hilarious (and distinctly) weird comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed several females fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; a different one imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being trapped in a horror film. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through campus film circles and ended up appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a religious event with hints of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her career, she says, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, instead of the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, stating with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Career Breakthrough

Those who questioned regarding her previously will likely be regretting it currently. Through she calls a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she seems to have created the perfect project. In 2019 she shared a video named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a show about Angelenos juggling the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your client being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). It would be easy to produce a series about online fame that was overly glamorous—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a representation of advantaged millennial life that’s honest about the grot and the appeal.

Balanced Perspective

“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