The star joins the online meeting and right away launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, sounding really remorseful. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, she feels compelled to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s just what one hopes to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty unsurprising. Viewers familiar with her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and brash project titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with the director and appeared in alongside her friend the talented actress—would already know that she holds a lot to say, ranging from on roles, relationships, or the merits of creating a high-school combat group. And, after watching the new eight-part show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she has further thoughts on the struggles of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as an honorary member for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for bridging both generations).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being an admirer, naming it in addition to the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as inspirations for the project, which follows the journey of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also fledgling agent Maia. Notably, the biggest presence on creative vision was reserved for the HBO series, the show depicting an emerging A-list actor navigating in a corrupt entertainment industry (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it during lockdown, became “hooked”, and chose to create a new version 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 explains. The idea for the series originated—partly—from personal, originally difficult, move to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for enthusiasts. That period marked an era that involved her understand significant insights, work-wise and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in the East Coast, the star started writing and performing stand-up while studying performance 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?”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at open mics with her friend and uploading uproarious (and very) bizarre comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women obsessively obsessed with having babies; another portrayed working at the brand Hollister as similar to being trapped in a thriller. Interestingly, she met Emma through NYU’s movie community and ultimately featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a religious event with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her path, she explains, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, instead of established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, continuing with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Those who had doubts about Sennott previously will certainly be kicking themselves now. As part of she describes as a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she has created an ideal role. Previously she shared a clip named “it’s LA” online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a comedy about LA residents managing advantages of internet fame (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). Some could easy to make a show about digital influence that was extremely aspirational—or, worse, one that mocked at its subjects. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a portrait of affluent millennial life that’s honest about the mess and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
