The star appears on the digital interview and immediately launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely apologetic. Despite being only slightly delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, in this context, this is precisely what is ideal to hear. Besides, it’s fairly predictable. Anyone who know her fearlessly openly gay and outspoken project Bottoms—which she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and featured in together with close companion The Bear’s standout—can already know that Sennott possesses a lot to discuss, whether about roles, sex, or the pros of creating a teen fight club. And, by the end her recent eight-part show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she has additional insights on the challenges of Gen Z life (At 30, Sennott represents a bridge of the gang, on the cusp skilled for straddling different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Parallels to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges an admirer, naming the show alongside the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which details the struggles of online personality Tallulah and close companion who is also fledgling agent portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the most significant influence on the moodboard belonged to Entourage, that HBO sitcom depicting an emerging Hollywood star navigating in a corrupt Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it amid the pandemic, became “captivated”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The concept for I Love LA originated—partly—from personal, originally difficult, relocation to LA and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about phenomenon for enthusiasts. That period marked an era that involved her grasp major insights, work-wise and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Brought up in the East Coast, the star began developing and showcasing humor while pursuing theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” 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.”
She decided to act independently, taking the stage at amateur nights with Edebiri and uploading uproarious (and very) bizarre skits digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on characters fetishistically obsessed with motherhood; a different one imagined working at the brand Hollister as akin to being stuck in a scary movie. By chance, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a religious event with hints of the intense thriller. The big theme of her path, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, rather than traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, adding amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who had doubts regarding Sennott previously will likely be regretting it now. As part of she calls a “astonishingly complete” story, she has created her dream vehicle. In 2019 she posted content called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a show about LA residents balancing advantages of digital stardom (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being suspected of being a substance-abusing stealer, and possibly becoming a risky pariah). One might simple to produce a series about digital influence that was extremely aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA steers clear of each, making for a portrait of affluent millennial living that’s candid about the grot and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
