The star enters the digital interview and right away begins an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, appearing genuinely regretful. Although she's only a bit late, she feels compelled 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!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is exactly what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s quite predictable. Viewers who have seen the fearlessly openly gay and brash film Bottoms—that she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in with collaborator the talented actress—will be aware that Sennott possesses a lot to share, ranging from on gender, intimacy, or the pros of creating a teen combat group. And, after watching her new eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star has even more insights about the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, she is a bridge for this generation, straddling eras skilled for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, naming it alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which follows the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the largest presence on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, the HBO sitcom focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in a corrupt LA scene (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it throughout the pandemic, became “hooked”, and resolved to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The inspiration for I Love LA originated—in part—from firsthand, initially difficult, move to LA and from the astrological phase, a frequently discussed phenomenon for followers. That period marked an era that involved her grasp some big life lessons, work-wise and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Raised in New England, Sennott started developing and showcasing humor while studying acting at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She seized control, taking the stage at open mics with Edebiri and posting hysterical (and very) bizarre online content on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on several females intensely fixated on pregnancy; a different one envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being stuck in a horror film. Interestingly, she met Emma through campus film circles and eventually starring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her path, she explains, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, as opposed to traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, continuing amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who questioned about Sennott then will surely be kicking themselves now. Through she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to manifested the perfect project. In 2019 she shared a video called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she lampooned film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about LA residents balancing advantages of online celebrity (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your associate being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and potentially becoming a risky outcast). One might tempting to make a series about digital influence that was overly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, creating a depiction of privileged twentysomething existence that’s candid about the grot and the shine.
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
