The star enters the online meeting and immediately starts an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, seeming truly remorseful. Although she's only slightly behind, she feels compelled to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is exactly what is ideal to encounter. Additionally, it’s quite expected. Those who know the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and starred in together with her friend The Bear’s standout—will already know that she has plenty to share, be it about identity, intimacy, or the merits of starting a high-school fight club. And, by the end her new eight-part program I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds even more perspectives regarding the challenges of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she is a bridge of the gang, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Creative Vision
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott admits to being a fan, referencing it together with Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as guides for the project, which details the travails of a social media star Tallulah and ally and fledgling agent Maia. Notably, the biggest influence on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, that show focusing on a rising celebrity navigating in a corrupt LA scene (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it during COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and decided to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The inspiration for this project originated—in part—from her own, initially difficult, relocation to LA and from her cosmic event, a popular occurrence for followers. This represented a phase that included her understand major insights, work-wise and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “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
Brought up in New England, Sennott commenced writing and performing comedy while enrolled in acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She seized control, performing at live shows with Ayo and uploading hysterical (and distinctly) weird online content on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted characters fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; a different one envisioned working at the brand Hollister as similar to being stuck in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a religious event with hints of the intense thriller. The big theme of her journey, she explains, has been peers supporting her, instead of established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, continuing amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who had doubts regarding her previously will surely be feeling foolish currently. In what she labels a “incredibly circular” development, she appears to achieved her dream vehicle. A few years back she shared a video called on LA life on social media, in which she mocked movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a show about LA residents managing advantages of online celebrity (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being accused of being a drug-addled thief, and potentially becoming a unreliable persona non grata). Some could simple to create a show about digital influence that was extremely glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at its subjects. This show does neither, creating a depiction of advantaged young adult life that’s honest about the chaos and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
