The performer joins the online meeting and immediately launches into an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, appearing truly apologetic. Despite being only a bit behind, she feels compelled to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, in this context, that’s precisely what one hopes to experience. Besides, it’s pretty expected. Viewers who have seen her unapologetically queer and brash film titled Bottoms—which she penned with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside collaborator The Bear’s standout—can be aware that Sennott holds a lot to say, be it on gender, sex, or the appeal of forming a teen combat group. And, by the end the new multi-episode show titled I Love LA, it is clear that she has additional thoughts regarding the struggles of modern youth (At 30, Sennott represents an honorary member to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial adept for connecting different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges an admirer, naming it together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as guides for I Love LA, which tracks the journey of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and aspiring representative Sennott’s character. Notably, the biggest influence on creative vision went to the HBO series, the show about a rising Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy entertainment industry (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it during COVID-19, became “captivated”, and resolved to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The concept for I Love LA emerged—partly—from personal, originally fractious, move to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about phenomenon for followers. It was a time that involved her learn significant life lessons, in her career and personally. “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. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Raised in Connecticut, the star began creating and acting comedy while pursuing acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “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, performing at amateur nights with Ayo and uploading hilarious (and distinctly) unconventional comedy videos on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted characters fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; another imagined working at the brand Hollister as akin to being caught in a thriller. Interestingly, she met Seligman through campus film circles and ended up featuring in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her path, she says, has been peers giving her a shot, instead of the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, adding with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who had doubts about Sennott previously will surely be feeling foolish currently. As part of she labels a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she has manifested her dream vehicle. Previously she posted a clip named on LA life online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about LA residents managing advantages of internet fame (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a substance-abusing stealer, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). Some could tempting to produce a show about digital influence that was horribly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a portrait of affluent young adult living that’s frank about the grot and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
