The star enters the video call and right away begins an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, appearing really remorseful. Despite being only slightly delayed, she wants to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s just what is ideal to hear. Moreover, it’s quite unsurprising. Viewers who have seen the boldly openly gay and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—that she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—will understand that she has plenty to share, whether on identity, sex, or the pros of creating a youth combat group. Furthermore, by the end her latest seasonal program I Love LA, it is clear that the star carries further perspectives about the challenges of young adulthood (As a millennial, she is a bridge for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for bridging different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges enthusiastic, naming the show in addition to Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which follows the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also aspiring agent Maia. Perhaps, the biggest presence on concept was reserved for the popular sitcom, that HBO sitcom depicting a rising A-list actor succeeding in a corrupt entertainment industry (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She started watching it throughout the pandemic, became “hooked”, and decided to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The concept for I Love LA came—partly—from firsthand, at first rocky, move to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a popular event for enthusiasts. It was a phase that involved her understand major life lessons, professionally and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced writing and performing comedy while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott decided to act independently, performing at open mics with Ayo and uploading hysterical (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed characters obsessively obsessed with motherhood; a different one portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as akin to being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and eventually starring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her journey, she says, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she repeats, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who had doubts regarding her then will certainly be kicking themselves now. Through she describes as a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she has created the perfect project. Previously she posted content called on LA life on social media, in which she parodied movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a show about Angelenos managing advantages of online celebrity (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being accused of being a substance-abusing thief, and perhaps becoming a unreliable outcast). One might tempting to make a program about digital influence that was horribly idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at those depicted. The series does neither, resulting in a depiction of affluent young adult living that’s honest about the mess and the shine.
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 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
