The actress and writer discussing her side-splitting series portraying that messy glamour of Gen Z life
The star joins the digital interview and at once launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming really remorseful. She is only slightly late, she needs to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s precisely what you want to encounter. Moreover, it’s pretty predictable. Anyone who have seen the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and brash project titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with the director and appeared in alongside close companion the talented actress—would be aware that she has much to say, whether on roles, sex, or the pros of creating a high-school combat group. Plus, by the end her new seasonal program titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds additional thoughts regarding the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she represents a relatable figure to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial adept for straddling both generations).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, naming it alongside the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as influences for her series, which follows the travails of a social media star Tallulah and ally and aspiring representative portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the biggest influence on the moodboard belonged to Entourage, the program focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star navigating in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it throughout the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The concept for the series emerged—in part—from firsthand, initially difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed occurrence for astrology heads. It was an era that involved her understand some big truths, work-wise and personally. “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 Connecticut, Sennott started creating and acting comedy while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at live shows with her friend and sharing uproarious (and decidedly) weird online content online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically drawn to motherhood; another envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being caught in a horror film. By chance, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a religious event with echoes of the intense thriller. The central motif of her career, she explains, has been peers supporting her, instead of traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she repeats, adding with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who questioned about Sennott then will certainly be regretting it currently. Through she describes as a “wild, full-circle” development, she seems to have achieved an ideal role. Previously she posted a clip titled “it’s LA” online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about city dwellers balancing the perks of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being suspected of being a intoxicated thief, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). Some could easy to make a show about digital influence that was horribly idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at those depicted. I Love LA steers clear of each, making for a portrait of affluent twentysomething living that’s candid about the grot and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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