The comedic talent on her hilarious series about the messy glamour of younger generation lifestyle
The performer enters the digital interview and right away begins an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, appearing genuinely remorseful. Although she's only slightly delayed, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is exactly what one hopes to encounter. Moreover, it’s quite predictable. Those who have seen her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and brash project titled Bottoms—that Sennott penned with her creative partner and featured in alongside her friend The Bear’s standout—can be aware that Sennott has plenty to share, be it about identity, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a high-school combat group. Furthermore, after watching the new multi-episode HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds further insights regarding the darker side of modern youth (At 30, she serves as an honorary member for this generation, on the cusp skilled for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Parallels to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott is an admirer, naming it alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and the innovative program as guides for I Love LA, which follows the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and close companion who is also fledgling talent manager Maia. Notably, the biggest influence on creative vision belonged to Entourage, the program about an emerging Hollywood star navigating in a corrupt Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it throughout lockdown, became “hooked”, and decided 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 notes. The idea for the series emerged—partly—from her own, at first fractious, move to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about occurrence for astrology heads. It was a phase that saw her learn major truths, in her career and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in Connecticut, the star commenced developing and showcasing comedy while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott decided to act independently, performing at live shows with her friend and posting uproarious (and very) unconventional online content digitally. One, Baby Cult, depicted characters intensely drawn to pregnancy; a different one imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being caught in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a Jewish wake with shades of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her career, she says, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, continuing humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who were skeptical about Sennott previously will certainly be regretting it currently. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” development, she has created the perfect project. In 2019 she shared a clip named about Los Angeles on social media, in which she mocked movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a comedy about Angelenos managing benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being labeled as being a substance-abusing criminal, and possibly becoming a unreliable persona non grata). It would be tempting to make a program about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that belittled at its subjects. The series does neither, resulting in a depiction of privileged millennial existence that’s candid about the mess and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she comments. “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