The star appears on the digital interview and right away starts an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, appearing really remorseful. Despite being only slightly delayed, she needs to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s exactly what is ideal to hear. Besides, it’s fairly predictable. Anyone who have seen her boldly queer and brash project Bottoms—that Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and starred in together with close companion Ayo Edebiri—can already know that Sennott holds plenty to discuss, whether about roles, relationships, or the appeal of creating a teen fight club. And, by the end the latest multi-episode program I Love LA, viewers realize that the star carries additional perspectives about the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she serves as a bridge to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial with a knack for bridging different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being an admirer, naming it together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as guides for the project, which follows the struggles of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also fledgling talent manager Maia. Notably, the largest influence on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, the program focusing on an emerging Hollywood star navigating in a corrupt Hollywood (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it during lockdown, became “hooked”, and chose to create a new version 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 inspiration for I Love LA came—in part—from her own, originally fractious, relocation to Tinseltown and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed occurrence for astrology heads. That period marked a phase that included her learn some big truths, professionally and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” 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…”
Humble Origins
Growing up in New England, Sennott began writing and performing humor while studying performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” 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 amateur nights with Edebiri and posting hysterical (and very) unconventional online content digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters obsessively obsessed with having babies; a different one envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being stuck in a horror film. By chance, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her career, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, instead of traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, stating with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who were skeptical about her then will likely be feeling foolish 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 video titled “it’s LA” online, in which she mocked film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about city dwellers balancing advantages of online celebrity (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being labeled as being a substance-abusing thief, and possibly becoming a unreliable pariah). One might simple to make a series about internet celebrity that was extremely idealized—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. The series does neither, making for a depiction of privileged young adult existence that’s frank about the grot and the appeal.
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 comments. “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
