The performer enters the online meeting and immediately begins an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, sounding genuinely apologetic. Despite being only a bit late, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, for a writer, this is just what one hopes to hear. Besides, it’s pretty expected. Those familiar with the boldly openly gay and outspoken movie Bottoms—which she penned with her creative partner and starred in together with collaborator The Bear’s standout—would understand that she holds much to share, whether about identity, intimacy, or the pros of starting a teen fight club. And, by the end the recent seasonal program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star carries even more perspectives about the darker side of modern youth (At 30, Sennott represents an honorary member of the gang, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting different age groups).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott is a fan, naming the show together with the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the travails of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and aspiring talent manager Sennott’s character. However, the most significant presence on creative vision belonged to the popular sitcom, that show focusing on an up-and-coming A-list actor succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it throughout the pandemic, became “hooked”, and chose to add a fresh perspective 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 says. The inspiration for this project came—in part—from her own, originally fractious, transition to LA and from the saturn return, a much-talked-about phenomenon for followers. This represented a time that saw her understand significant life lessons, in her career and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” 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 …”
Starting Out
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott began creating and acting stand-up while pursuing acting at NYU’s Tisch. “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. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at open mics with Edebiri and uploading uproarious (and decidedly) bizarre skits digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed characters intensely obsessed with motherhood; another imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a religious event with hints of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her journey, she explains, has been people her own age supporting her, instead of the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, stating amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who were skeptical about Sennott earlier will likely be kicking themselves currently. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to manifested the perfect project. Previously she posted a video named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she lampooned movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a comedy about city dwellers balancing advantages of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being accused of being a substance-abusing stealer, and possibly becoming a risky pariah). It would be tempting to produce a series about online fame that was extremely idealized—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. The series avoids both, creating a portrait of affluent young adult existence 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 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
