The performer joins the online meeting and at once starts an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, seeming genuinely remorseful. She is only a bit late, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, in this context, this is exactly what is ideal to experience. Besides, it’s fairly expected. Those who know the boldly LGBTQ+ and brash film titled Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with the director and starred in with close companion The Bear’s standout—can be aware that Sennott holds plenty to share, whether on identity, sex, or the merits of forming a youth combat group. Plus, by the end her new eight-part show I Love LA, viewers realize that the star holds even more perspectives about the struggles of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott serves as a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for connecting different age groups).
Influences and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, citing the show together with the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as influences for the project, which details the travails of online personality Tallulah and ally and fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the biggest influence on the moodboard was reserved for Entourage, that HBO sitcom depicting a rising Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy entertainment industry (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it amid lockdown, became “obsessed”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The concept for this project emerged—in part—from her own, at first fractious, transition to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about event for astrology heads. This represented a phase that involved her grasp major truths, professionally and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in Connecticut, the star commenced creating and acting humor while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “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. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She seized control, performing at amateur nights with Ayo and posting uproarious (and very) bizarre comedy videos online. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed characters fetishistically fixated on pregnancy; another imagined being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being stuck in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up featuring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her path, she says, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who were skeptical about her earlier will likely be feeling foolish now. Through she labels a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she has manifested the perfect project. In 2019 she posted content called on LA life on the internet, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a series about city dwellers juggling benefits of digital stardom (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). Some could tempting to produce a series about internet celebrity that was overly glamorous—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, creating a depiction of advantaged millennial existence that’s candid about the grot and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
