The performer appears on the video call and right away begins an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, seeming really remorseful. Despite being only slightly behind, she needs to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is just what you want to encounter. Additionally, it’s quite unsurprising. Those who know her unapologetically queer and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—which she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in with close companion The Bear’s standout—will be aware that Sennott holds plenty to discuss, be it on identity, sex, or the appeal of starting a youth combat group. And, by the end her recent eight-part HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that the star carries even more insights on the challenges of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott serves as a bridge of the gang, straddling eras skilled for bridging different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress admits to being a fan, citing the show alongside Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as inspirations for the project, which follows the journey of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also fledgling representative Maia. Notably, the biggest influence on creative vision belonged to the popular sitcom, that show focusing on an emerging A-list actor making his way in a gritty Hollywood (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it during lockdown, became “obsessed”, and decided to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The idea for I Love LA originated—to some extent—from her own, originally rocky, move to LA and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about phenomenon for followers. That period marked an era that included her understand major truths, work-wise and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Raised in New England, the star commenced developing and showcasing comedy while studying acting at a prestigious arts school. “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.”
She decided to act independently, appearing at amateur nights with Ayo and uploading uproarious (and very) unconventional comedy videos digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely drawn to motherhood; another portrayed being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being caught in a horror film. By chance, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and ended up featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her journey, she explains, has been peers offering opportunities, rather than traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, continuing with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who were skeptical regarding Sennott previously will surely be kicking themselves today. As part of she labels a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she has achieved the perfect project. In 2019 she uploaded content named on LA life on social media, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a series about Angelenos managing the perks of online celebrity (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being labeled as being a intoxicated criminal, and perhaps becoming a risky pariah). Some could easy to make a program about online fame that was overly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, making for a portrait of privileged young adult living that’s candid about the chaos and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
