The star appears on the online meeting and right away starts an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, appearing genuinely regretful. Despite being only a couple of minutes late, she feels compelled to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, during an interview, that’s exactly what you want to encounter. Besides, it’s fairly predictable. Those who know the unapologetically openly gay and brash movie Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with the director and featured in with close companion Ayo Edebiri—will be aware that Sennott possesses plenty to share, whether on gender, relationships, or the appeal of forming a teen combat group. Plus, by the end her new seasonal HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that the star has further insights regarding the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, she represents an honorary member of the gang, on the cusp with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, citing the show together with the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for the project, which tracks the journey of a social media star Tallulah and her friend and aspiring representative portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the biggest spot on creative vision belonged to Entourage, the HBO sitcom focusing on a rising Hollywood star making his way in a gritty entertainment industry (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott started watching it amid COVID-19, became “captivated”, and chose to put her own twist 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 says. The concept for this project emerged—to some extent—from her own, initially fractious, move to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for enthusiasts. That period marked a phase that involved her grasp significant life lessons, professionally and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Brought up in Connecticut, the star commenced writing and performing stand-up while pursuing acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with her friend and uploading hilarious (and distinctly) bizarre online content on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, followed characters obsessively drawn to having babies; another envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being caught in a horror film. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her journey, she says, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she repeats, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who questioned regarding her earlier will likely be kicking themselves now. As part of she calls a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she appears to created the perfect project. Previously she uploaded a video titled on LA life online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a show about LA residents balancing the perks of internet fame (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being accused of being a substance-abusing thief, and perhaps becoming a risky pariah). One might tempting to produce a program about digital influence that was overly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at those depicted. This show avoids both, resulting in a portrait of advantaged twentysomething life that’s honest about the chaos and the glamour.
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
