The performer enters the video call and at once starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, seeming really remorseful. Although she's only slightly behind, she feels compelled to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, in this context, this is exactly what is ideal to experience. Besides, it’s pretty expected. Anyone who have seen the fearlessly queer and brash project Bottoms—that she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside her friend the talented actress—can understand that she possesses much to discuss, ranging from about gender, intimacy, or the appeal of forming a youth brawl society. And, by the end her recent seasonal HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that she carries further insights regarding the challenges of young adulthood (As a millennial, she represents a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp with a knack for bridging both generations).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Parallels to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott admits to being a fan, referencing it alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which details the struggles of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and new agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the biggest presence on the moodboard went to the HBO series, that show depicting a rising Hollywood star navigating in a gritty LA scene (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it amid COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and decided to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The concept for the series came—partly—from personal, at first fractious, relocation to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed event for astrology heads. This represented an era that saw her understand major life lessons, professionally and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” 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…”
Starting Out
Growing up in New England, the star commenced creating and acting comedy 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 explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She took matters into her own hands, performing at open mics with Edebiri and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) weird online content on the internet. One, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women intensely drawn to having babies; a different one portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as like being caught in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. The central motif of her path, she explains, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Individuals who had doubts regarding Sennott previously will certainly be regretting it currently. In what she calls a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she posted a clip titled “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a comedy about LA residents managing benefits of internet fame (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being accused of being a intoxicated stealer, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). Some could easy to create a show about online fame that was overly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a representation of advantaged young adult living that’s honest about the grot and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
