The performer appears on the digital interview and right away begins an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, sounding genuinely remorseful. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, she needs to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s just what is ideal to experience. Moreover, it’s quite unsurprising. Those who have seen the unapologetically queer and brash film titled Bottoms—which Sennott penned with the director and starred in together with close companion the talented actress—can already know that Sennott has much to share, ranging from about identity, intimacy, or the pros of forming a teen combat group. Furthermore, by the end her latest multi-episode show I Love LA, it is clear that the star has further insights regarding the struggles of modern youth (At 30, Sennott is an honorary member of the gang, straddling eras adept for straddling both generations).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and Sennott is an admirer, referencing the show in addition to Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as influences for the project, which tracks the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and aspiring talent manager Maia. Perhaps, the largest spot on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, that show depicting an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty LA scene (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it amid lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose to create a new version 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 concept for I Love LA emerged—in part—from firsthand, originally rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from the saturn return, a much-talked-about phenomenon for astrology heads. This represented an era that included her understand major life lessons, work-wise and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Growing up in New England, Sennott started developing and showcasing humor while studying performance at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She decided to act independently, performing at open mics with her friend and posting hysterical (and very) weird skits online. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on characters intensely obsessed with having babies; another portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually featuring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a Jewish wake with hints of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her path, she says, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, adding humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Anyone who were skeptical about Sennott then will likely be kicking themselves currently. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” development, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she posted a clip titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a series about LA residents balancing the perks of internet fame (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and perhaps becoming a risky outcast). One might tempting to make a program about digital influence that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at its subjects. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a representation of advantaged millennial existence that’s honest about the mess and the appeal.
Empathetic Approach
“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
