The star appears on the online meeting and right away launches into an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, seeming truly apologetic. Despite being only slightly late, she feels compelled to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is precisely what is ideal to encounter. Additionally, it’s fairly expected. Viewers who have seen her fearlessly queer and brash film titled Bottoms—that she penned with Emma Seligman and appeared in with her friend Ayo Edebiri—will be aware that she possesses a lot to discuss, whether on gender, relationships, or the appeal of creating a youth brawl society. And, by the end the recent eight-part show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds further perspectives on the struggles of Gen Z life (At 30, she is an honorary member of the gang, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and Sennott admits to being a fan, naming the show in addition to the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also aspiring talent manager Maia. Notably, the biggest influence on concept was reserved for the HBO series, the show depicting an emerging A-list actor navigating in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it amid lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose to add a fresh perspective 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 explains. The inspiration for this project came—partly—from personal, originally rocky, transition to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a popular event for enthusiasts. It was a time that involved her learn significant life lessons, work-wise and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott commenced writing and performing stand-up while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” 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. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at live shows with Ayo and sharing hysterical (and very) weird comedy videos digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed characters obsessively drawn to pregnancy; another envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a horror film. Interestingly, she met Emma through campus film circles and eventually featuring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a religious event with shades of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her journey, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, rather than traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, stating with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who questioned about her then will certainly be kicking themselves today. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she appears to manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she shared a clip called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a series about Angelenos balancing advantages of internet fame (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being labeled as being a intoxicated criminal, and perhaps becoming a risky persona non grata). It would be easy to make a show about digital influence that was extremely glamorous—or, worse, one that belittled at the characters. This show avoids both, creating a portrait of advantaged twentysomething life 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
