The performer joins the video call and at once launches into an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, appearing genuinely regretful. Although she's only a bit late, she needs to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, in this context, that’s precisely what you want to hear. Additionally, it’s quite expected. Viewers who have seen her fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—that she co-wrote with the director and featured in alongside close companion The Bear’s standout—can already know that Sennott holds a lot to share, ranging from about roles, intimacy, or the appeal of starting a teen fight club. And, by the end her new multi-episode show titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds additional thoughts regarding the challenges of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott serves as an honorary member to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott admits to being an admirer, referencing the show alongside the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the struggles of online personality Tallulah and ally and new talent manager Maia. Notably, the most significant presence on concept was reserved for the popular sitcom, the show depicting an emerging Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She began viewing it throughout the pandemic, became “captivated”, and decided to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The concept for I Love LA came—to some extent—from her own, originally rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about occurrence for followers. That period marked a time that saw her grasp some big insights, in her career and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott started writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in acting at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and uploading uproarious (and decidedly) unconventional skits on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters obsessively drawn to pregnancy; a different one envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being caught in a scary movie. By chance, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and eventually appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of the intense thriller. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been peers supporting her, instead of established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, stating with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who questioned regarding Sennott earlier will likely be feeling foolish currently. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” story, she seems to have created the perfect project. Previously she shared a video titled about Los Angeles online, in which she mocked film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a show about Angelenos balancing benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and possibly becoming a risky pariah). It would be tempting to produce a series about online fame that was overly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at its subjects. The series steers clear of each, resulting in a representation of advantaged millennial living that’s candid about the chaos and the glamour.
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 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
