The performer appears on the online meeting and right away launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, appearing really apologetic. Despite being only a bit behind, she feels compelled to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, in this context, this is exactly what one hopes to experience. Moreover, it’s quite predictable. Viewers familiar with her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken film titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside collaborator the talented actress—can understand that she has a lot to say, whether about gender, intimacy, or the pros of forming a teen combat group. Furthermore, by the end her latest multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that she carries even more thoughts about the challenges of modern youth (At 30, Sennott serves as a bridge of the gang, straddling eras adept for straddling both generations).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress is enthusiastic, naming the show in addition to the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also fledgling agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the most significant spot on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, that show depicting an emerging Hollywood star making his way in a gritty Hollywood (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it amid COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and resolved to create a new version 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 concept for the series originated—partly—from her own, originally difficult, transition to Tinseltown and from the saturn return, a popular phenomenon for enthusiasts. It was an era that involved her learn some big life lessons, work-wise and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Growing up in New England, the star 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 states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. 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.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at amateur nights with her friend and uploading hilarious (and very) weird comedy videos digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed several females intensely drawn to having babies; a different one envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being caught in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up featuring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a religious event with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her path, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, instead of established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Those who questioned regarding Sennott earlier will surely be regretting it today. Through she describes as a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she has achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she shared a clip titled about Los Angeles online, in which she mocked movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a show about Angelenos balancing advantages of internet fame (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your associate being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). One might tempting to create a show about online fame that was extremely aspirational—or, more problematic, one that punched down at the characters. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a representation of affluent twentysomething living that’s candid about the mess and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she observes. “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
