The star joins the digital interview and immediately launches into an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, appearing really remorseful. Although she's only slightly delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “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, during an interview, that’s precisely what is ideal to encounter. Besides, it’s fairly unsurprising. Those who have seen the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken project titled Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside close companion The Bear’s standout—would understand that Sennott possesses a lot to share, whether about identity, relationships, or the pros of starting a high-school brawl society. And, after watching her recent multi-episode program titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds even more insights about the struggles of modern youth (At 30, she serves as a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being a fan, referencing the show alongside the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which tracks the struggles of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also new representative portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the largest spot on the moodboard was reserved for the HBO series, that program depicting a rising A-list actor navigating in a gritty Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it throughout the pandemic, became “hooked”, and resolved to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The concept for this project came—partly—from her own, initially fractious, move to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. That period marked a phase that saw her learn major life lessons, professionally and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Growing up in Connecticut, the star started creating and acting stand-up while studying theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott seized control, appearing at amateur nights with Ayo and posting uproarious (and decidedly) weird comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed characters fetishistically drawn to having babies; a different one portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a religious event with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her path, she explains, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, rather than established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she confirms, stating with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who questioned regarding her earlier will surely be feeling foolish now. Through she calls a “astonishingly complete” story, she has created the perfect project. Previously she posted a clip named about Los Angeles on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a show about LA residents managing the perks of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your client being labeled as being a intoxicated thief, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be simple to make a series about internet celebrity that was overly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at the characters. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a portrait of advantaged twentysomething existence that’s honest about the grot and the shine.
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 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
