The performer enters the video call and at once starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, sounding really apologetic. Despite being only a couple of minutes late, she wants to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s exactly what is ideal to encounter. Moreover, it’s fairly predictable. Anyone familiar with her fearlessly openly gay and brash movie titled Bottoms—which she penned with Emma Seligman and starred in alongside close companion the talented actress—would already know that Sennott possesses much to share, whether about roles, sex, or the appeal of creating a teen fight club. And, after watching the latest seasonal program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds further perspectives on the struggles of modern youth (Now in her thirties, she represents an honorary member of the gang, a tale-end millennial skilled for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott is a fan, referencing the show together with Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as influences for the project, which tracks the travails of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and fledgling agent portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the most significant influence on concept went to Entourage, that program about an emerging Hollywood star succeeding in a corrupt entertainment industry (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott started watching it throughout the pandemic, became “captivated”, and decided to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The idea for I Love LA emerged—partly—from her own, initially rocky, relocation to Tinseltown and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. That period marked an era that involved her learn major life lessons, professionally and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced writing and performing comedy while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott seized control, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and sharing hilarious (and very) unconventional comedy videos on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, followed several females obsessively fixated on pregnancy; another imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being caught in a scary movie. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately featuring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a religious event with shades of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her journey, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, rather than traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Anyone who questioned about her earlier will surely be regretting it now. As part of she describes as a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have created the perfect project. In 2019 she uploaded a clip called on LA life online, in which she mocked movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a series about city dwellers managing the perks of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being labeled as being a drug-addled criminal, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). It would be easy to make a series about online fame that was overly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that punched down at the characters. This show steers clear of each, making for a depiction of privileged young adult living that’s honest about the mess and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
