The star appears on the online meeting and right away launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, appearing truly regretful. Although she's only a couple of minutes late, she wants to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, during an interview, that’s just what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s quite expected. Those who have seen her fearlessly queer and brash movie Bottoms—which she penned with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—can be aware that Sennott possesses a lot to discuss, ranging from about identity, intimacy, or the merits of forming a teen combat group. Furthermore, after watching the recent seasonal HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star has further insights about the struggles of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott serves as a bridge for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, citing it alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as influences for I Love LA, which tracks the travails of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also new talent manager portrayed by Sennott. However, the largest presence on creative vision belonged to the HBO series, that HBO sitcom depicting an emerging Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She started watching it throughout lockdown, became “captivated”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The idea for I Love LA originated—to some extent—from her own, at first fractious, transition to Tinseltown and from the saturn return, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. This represented a phase that saw her grasp significant truths, professionally and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott started writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” 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. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with Edebiri and uploading hysterical (and decidedly) bizarre comedy videos online. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively fixated on pregnancy; another portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being trapped in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a religious event with echoes of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her journey, she notes, has been peers giving her a shot, rather than established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who had doubts about Sennott previously will certainly be regretting it now. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she seems to have achieved an ideal role. In 2019 she posted a clip titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she lampooned film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a comedy about Angelenos managing benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your associate being suspected of being a substance-abusing stealer, and potentially becoming a risky pariah). It would be simple to produce a show about internet celebrity that was extremely glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at its subjects. The series does neither, resulting in a depiction of affluent twentysomething existence that’s frank about the mess and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
