The performer enters the video call and immediately begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, appearing genuinely regretful. Although she's only a couple of minutes delayed, she feels compelled to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is exactly what is ideal to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty expected. Those who have seen the fearlessly openly gay and outspoken movie Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and starred in with her friend Ayo Edebiri—can understand that Sennott holds a lot to say, be it about identity, sex, or the pros of starting a youth fight club. Furthermore, by the end the recent multi-episode program titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds further thoughts regarding the darker side of modern youth (As a millennial, she represents a relatable figure of the gang, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling both generations).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, referencing the show alongside the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as influences for I Love LA, which tracks the struggles of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and aspiring talent manager Maia. However, the most significant spot on creative vision was reserved for Entourage, the HBO sitcom about an emerging Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty entertainment industry (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She began viewing it throughout COVID-19, became “captivated”, and chose to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The inspiration for this project originated—to some extent—from personal, initially rocky, move to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. That period marked a time that saw her grasp some big truths, professionally and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “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…”
Humble Origins
Growing up in New England, the star started writing and performing humor while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She seized control, taking the stage at live shows with Ayo and sharing uproarious (and very) unconventional comedy videos online. One, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women obsessively drawn to motherhood; a different one envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through campus film circles and ended up starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a religious event with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her career, she says, has been contemporaries supporting her, instead of established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, adding with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who questioned about her earlier will surely be regretting it now. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” development, she seems to have manifested the perfect project. In 2019 she posted a video titled “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she mocked film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a show about city dwellers balancing benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). It would be simple to create a program about digital influence that was extremely glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA avoids both, making for a representation of affluent young adult life that’s frank about the mess and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
