The performer enters the digital interview and at once launches into an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, seeming really apologetic. Despite being only slightly late, she wants to justify. “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!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s precisely what is ideal to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty predictable. Those who have seen the unapologetically openly gay and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and starred in alongside her friend The Bear’s standout—will understand that Sennott has much to discuss, be it about gender, intimacy, or the merits of forming a high-school fight club. And, by the end the latest seasonal show titled I Love LA, it is clear that she carries even more perspectives on the struggles of young adulthood (As a millennial, she serves as an honorary member of the gang, straddling eras with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being an admirer, citing it together with the classic series, Insecure and the innovative program as inspirations for I Love LA, which tracks the struggles of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and new agent portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the most significant influence on the moodboard went to Entourage, the HBO sitcom about a rising Hollywood star making his way in a corrupt Hollywood (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it during the pandemic, became “hooked”, and resolved to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The inspiration for this project emerged—partly—from her own, initially fractious, transition to LA and from the saturn return, a much-talked-about occurrence for astrology heads. This represented an era that saw her understand some big life lessons, professionally 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.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott began creating and acting comedy while pursuing performance 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 explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at amateur nights with Edebiri and sharing uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre skits online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed characters fetishistically obsessed with pregnancy; another portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through campus film circles and ended up featuring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a religious event with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her path, she explains, has been people her own age supporting her, rather than the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who questioned regarding Sennott earlier will likely be kicking themselves today. Through she calls a “astonishingly complete” story, she appears to manifested an ideal role. In 2019 she posted content called on LA life online, in which she mocked movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about LA residents juggling advantages of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your client being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). It would be tempting to create a program about internet celebrity that was overly glamorous—or, worse, one that belittled at its subjects. The series avoids both, resulting in a representation of privileged millennial existence that’s honest about the grot and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“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
