The star appears on the digital interview and immediately begins an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, sounding truly regretful. Although she's only slightly late, she feels compelled 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!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is precisely what you want to encounter. Besides, it’s fairly unsurprising. Those who have seen her boldly queer and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—that she collaborated on with her creative partner and starred in alongside collaborator the talented actress—would already know that Sennott holds a lot to discuss, be it on identity, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a teen fight club. Plus, by the end her recent multi-episode show I Love LA, viewers realize that the star carries additional perspectives regarding the challenges of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she serves as a relatable figure for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for bridging different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress is a fan, citing it alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for her series, which details the struggles of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and new agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the most significant influence on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, the HBO sitcom depicting a rising A-list actor making his way in a corrupt entertainment industry (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it throughout the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose to create a new version 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 inspiration for this project originated—in part—from her own, at first difficult, move to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about occurrence for enthusiasts. This represented a time that included her grasp significant life lessons, in her career and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott began developing and showcasing stand-up while pursuing acting at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. 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?”
Sennott seized control, taking the stage at open mics with Ayo and uploading hysterical (and distinctly) bizarre comedy videos digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on several females fetishistically fixated on pregnancy; another envisioned being employed at the brand Hollister as like being stuck in a scary movie. Interestingly, she met Emma through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her path, she notes, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who questioned regarding Sennott previously will surely be regretting it now. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she appears to created her dream vehicle. Previously she posted content titled on LA life on the internet, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers juggling advantages of internet fame (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). One might easy to create a program about digital influence that was extremely aspirational—or, worse, one that punched down at the characters. I Love LA steers clear of each, creating a portrait of privileged twentysomething existence that’s honest about the chaos and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
