The star joins the online meeting and right away starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, appearing truly regretful. Despite being only a bit delayed, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s just what you want to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Anyone familiar with her unapologetically openly gay and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in alongside close companion Ayo Edebiri—can understand that Sennott holds a lot to share, ranging from on identity, intimacy, or the appeal of starting a youth combat group. And, by the end the recent eight-part program I Love LA, viewers realize that the star holds additional thoughts about the darker side of modern youth (As a millennial, she is a bridge to younger audiences, straddling eras skilled for bridging different age groups).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress is enthusiastic, referencing it alongside Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as guides for the project, which follows the struggles of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and new agent Maia. Notably, the most significant spot on creative vision went to Entourage, the show focusing on an up-and-coming A-list actor navigating in an often-seedy entertainment industry (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott started watching it throughout the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and decided to put her own twist 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 explains. The inspiration for the series came—partly—from firsthand, initially fractious, relocation to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for astrology heads. It was a phase that saw her grasp major life lessons, professionally and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott commenced writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She decided to act independently, performing at live shows with Ayo and sharing uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre comedy videos digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters intensely obsessed with having babies; a different one envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being trapped in a horror film. By chance, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a Jewish wake with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she explains, has been people her own age supporting her, rather than traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who questioned about her then will surely be kicking themselves now. As part of she calls a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she seems to have created her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded a video called about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she lampooned movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a comedy about LA residents managing benefits of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being labeled as being a drug-addled stealer, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). One might easy to create a series about online fame that was horribly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at those depicted. This show does neither, making for a representation of affluent twentysomething life that’s frank about the grot and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
