The star appears on the video call and immediately starts an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing genuinely regretful. She is only a couple of minutes behind, she wants to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, for a writer, this is precisely what one hopes to experience. Besides, it’s quite unsurprising. Those who know the fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—which she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside her friend the talented actress—will understand that Sennott has much to discuss, whether about roles, relationships, or the pros of forming a teen brawl society. Furthermore, by the end the latest multi-episode show titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she has additional thoughts regarding the darker side of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she is a bridge to younger audiences, straddling eras with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott readily acknowledges an admirer, citing the show in addition to the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for her series, which follows the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the biggest presence on the moodboard went to the HBO series, the program about an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in a corrupt LA scene (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and decided to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The inspiration for this project originated—partly—from her own, at first fractious, transition to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a popular event for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that included her grasp major insights, professionally and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in New England, Sennott commenced creating and acting comedy while pursuing theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She decided to act independently, performing at open mics with Ayo and sharing hysterical (and distinctly) weird skits online. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively drawn to motherhood; another portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being trapped in a scary movie. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and ultimately featuring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a religious event with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her career, she notes, has been peers supporting her, instead of traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who were skeptical about Sennott earlier will certainly be regretting it today. Through she labels a “astonishingly complete” story, she seems to have manifested the perfect project. Previously she shared a video named about Los Angeles online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a series about Angelenos juggling advantages of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being labeled as being a drug-addled stealer, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). Some could simple to create a series about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA steers clear of each, resulting in a depiction of privileged twentysomething living that’s frank 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 says. “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
