The performer enters the online meeting and right away launches into an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, seeming genuinely regretful. Despite being only slightly late, she wants to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is just what you want to encounter. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Viewers who know her unapologetically openly gay and brash film Bottoms—that Sennott penned with the director and appeared in alongside close companion Ayo Edebiri—will be aware that Sennott possesses plenty to share, ranging from about identity, relationships, or the appeal of starting a teen combat group. Plus, by the end her new seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, it is clear that she has additional thoughts regarding the challenges of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott is a bridge for this generation, straddling eras adept for bridging both generations).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress is an admirer, citing it alongside Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as influences for I Love LA, which details the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and aspiring agent Sennott’s character. However, the largest spot on the moodboard went to Entourage, the show focusing on an emerging celebrity navigating in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it amid COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and resolved 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 says. The inspiration for I Love LA came—to some extent—from personal, initially rocky, move to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a popular phenomenon for astrology heads. It was a time that saw her understand major insights, professionally and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” 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
Raised in New England, the star started creating and acting comedy while pursuing theatre at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “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 took matters into her own hands, appearing at live shows with Ayo and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) weird skits digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically drawn to motherhood; a different one portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as like being caught in a horror film. By chance, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually featuring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a funeral gathering with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her path, she notes, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, rather than traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, stating humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who were skeptical regarding Sennott previously will surely be kicking themselves today. Through she labels a “incredibly circular” development, she appears to achieved an ideal role. In 2019 she posted content called on LA life on social media, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a series about Angelenos juggling the perks of internet fame (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing thief, and potentially becoming a risky persona non grata). Some could simple to make a program about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that mocked at its subjects. The series steers clear of each, creating a representation of advantaged twentysomething living that’s candid about the mess and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
