The star appears on the online meeting and immediately begins an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, sounding really regretful. She is only a bit delayed, she wants to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, for a writer, this is exactly what one hopes to encounter. Additionally, it’s quite unsurprising. Those who have seen her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with the director and featured in with collaborator the talented actress—can be aware that Sennott possesses plenty to share, whether about gender, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a high-school brawl society. Furthermore, by the end the latest seasonal show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds even more thoughts on the challenges of modern youth (As a millennial, Sennott is a relatable figure of the gang, on the cusp adept for connecting both generations).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, citing the show alongside the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for the project, which tracks the struggles of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also aspiring representative Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the most significant presence on creative vision went to the HBO series, that show focusing on an emerging A-list actor navigating in a corrupt entertainment industry (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it throughout the pandemic, became “hooked”, and chose to add a fresh perspective 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 says. The inspiration for I Love LA originated—to some extent—from personal, at first fractious, move to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a much-talked-about occurrence for astrology heads. It was a time that included her understand some big truths, work-wise and in private life. “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…”
Starting Out
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott started creating and acting stand-up while pursuing performance at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. 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, appearing at live shows with her friend and uploading hysterical (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos on the internet. One, Baby Cult, followed several females fetishistically drawn to having babies; a different one envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her career, she says, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Individuals who questioned regarding her then will surely be kicking themselves today. In what she calls a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she appears to achieved the perfect project. A few years back she shared a clip titled about Los Angeles on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a comedy about Angelenos juggling advantages of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being labeled as being a intoxicated stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). Some could simple to create a series about online fame that was overly idealized—or, worse, one that mocked at its subjects. I Love LA steers clear of each, creating a representation of privileged twentysomething living that’s candid about the grot and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“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
