The actress and writer discussing her uproarious comedy about that grotty appeal of younger generation life
The performer appears on the online meeting and immediately launches into an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, seeming genuinely regretful. Although she's only a bit behind, she wants to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s exactly what is ideal to experience. Additionally, it’s quite predictable. Those familiar with her boldly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside close companion The Bear’s standout—will be aware that Sennott has much to say, be it about roles, sex, or the pros of starting a teen fight club. And, by the end the latest multi-episode HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star has additional thoughts about the challenges of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott is a relatable figure of the gang, straddling eras with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges enthusiastic, citing the show together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for the project, which tracks the journey of a social media star Tallulah and ally who is also fledgling talent manager Maia. Notably, the biggest spot on creative vision belonged to Entourage, the show focusing on an up-and-coming A-list actor succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She started watching it during lockdown, became “obsessed”, and decided 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 idea for I Love LA came—in part—from firsthand, at first difficult, transition to LA and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about occurrence for followers. This represented a phase that saw her learn major truths, professionally and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced developing and showcasing stand-up while studying theatre 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. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott seized control, taking the stage at open mics with Ayo and uploading hysterical (and distinctly) weird comedy videos online. One, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically drawn to having babies; a different one envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being trapped in a horror film. By chance, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a religious event with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age giving her a shot, rather than the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she repeats, adding humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who had doubts regarding her previously will likely be regretting it today. Through she describes as a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she seems to have manifested the perfect project. A few years back she shared a video called about Los Angeles on social media, in which she lampooned film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a series about Angelenos managing advantages of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). Some could easy to create a program about internet celebrity that was extremely idealized—or, worse, one that mocked at those depicted. The series avoids both, creating a depiction of affluent twentysomething existence that’s frank about the mess and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” she observes. “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
