The star enters the digital interview and immediately launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming really apologetic. Although she's only a bit late, she wants to explain. “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 hear. Besides, it’s quite expected. Anyone who know her unapologetically queer and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and featured in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—can understand that she holds a lot to share, whether about gender, relationships, or the pros of forming a high-school brawl society. Furthermore, by the end her latest multi-episode show titled I Love LA, it is clear that she has even more insights on the struggles of modern youth (At 30, Sennott serves as a relatable figure for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress admits to being a fan, citing it alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for her series, which tracks the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the biggest presence on the moodboard went to the HBO series, that HBO sitcom about an up-and-coming A-list actor making his way in a corrupt LA scene (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott began viewing it during the pandemic, became “hooked”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The inspiration for I Love LA originated—in part—from personal, originally fractious, relocation to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a frequently discussed occurrence for followers. That period marked a phase that saw her learn significant insights, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Raised in the East Coast, the star started developing and showcasing humor while studying performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She seized control, performing at open mics with her friend and uploading hysterical (and decidedly) weird skits digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed characters obsessively drawn to having babies; another envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as like being stuck in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her journey, she notes, has been peers supporting her, rather than the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, continuing with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who questioned about Sennott earlier will surely be feeling foolish currently. Through she labels a “incredibly circular” development, she appears to created her dream vehicle. A few years back she uploaded a video named about Los Angeles online, in which she parodied movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a show about Angelenos juggling benefits of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled thief, and possibly becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be easy to make a show about online fame that was overly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at the characters. The series does neither, resulting in a portrait of privileged millennial life that’s candid about the grot and the appeal.
Empathetic Approach
“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
