The performer enters the digital interview and right away starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, seeming genuinely apologetic. Although she's only a couple of minutes delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, in this context, this is exactly what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Viewers who know her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and brash project titled Bottoms—that Sennott penned with her creative partner and featured in with collaborator the talented actress—can understand that Sennott has plenty to share, ranging from on identity, intimacy, or the merits of starting a high-school fight club. And, by the end her latest multi-episode show I Love LA, viewers realize that she has even more thoughts about the struggles of modern youth (At 30, she is an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp with a knack for connecting different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, referencing it in addition to the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which details the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also new representative portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the largest influence on concept belonged to the HBO series, the HBO sitcom depicting an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it amid the pandemic, became “captivated”, 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 notes. The idea for this project came—in part—from her own, initially rocky, move to LA and from the cosmic event, a popular event for followers. This represented a time that saw her grasp significant life lessons, work-wise and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “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…”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in New England, Sennott started creating and acting stand-up while studying theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She took matters into her own hands, performing at open mics with Ayo and posting hysterical (and very) bizarre skits online. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters fetishistically fixated on pregnancy; a different one portrayed being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being trapped in a scary movie. By chance, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and eventually starring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her career, she says, has been peers supporting her, rather than traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Individuals who were skeptical about her earlier will surely be regretting it today. In what she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she appears to created the perfect project. In 2019 she uploaded content called about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she lampooned film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a series about LA residents balancing the perks of internet fame (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being labeled as being a substance-abusing thief, and possibly becoming a risky pariah). One might simple to produce a show about digital influence that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that mocked at those depicted. I Love LA does neither, making for a representation of affluent twentysomething living that’s candid about the grot and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
