The star joins the online meeting and immediately starts an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, sounding truly apologetic. Although she's only slightly behind, she needs to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, in this context, this is just what is ideal to experience. Moreover, it’s fairly predictable. Viewers who know her fearlessly queer and brash project Bottoms—that she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in together with her friend the talented actress—would be aware that Sennott has much to say, whether about roles, sex, or the pros of forming a youth fight club. Plus, after watching her recent eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star carries additional insights about the challenges of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she represents an honorary member of the gang, on the cusp with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, naming it in addition to the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for the project, which follows the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also aspiring talent manager Sennott’s character. Notably, the biggest presence on concept went to the popular sitcom, that program focusing on an up-and-coming celebrity succeeding in a corrupt Hollywood (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it amid COVID-19, became “captivated”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The idea for I Love LA emerged—to some extent—from her own, at first rocky, relocation to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed event for astrology heads. That period marked a phase that saw her understand significant life lessons, professionally and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Brought up in Connecticut, the star started developing and showcasing comedy while studying theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at amateur nights with Edebiri and uploading hilarious (and distinctly) weird skits digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed characters intensely obsessed with motherhood; a different one envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as like being stuck in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her career, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, instead of the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, stating amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who questioned about her then will likely be regretting it today. In what she calls a “wild, full-circle” development, she appears to achieved an ideal role. A few years back she uploaded a video titled on LA life on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a series about Angelenos juggling benefits of internet fame (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your associate being accused of being a substance-abusing criminal, and perhaps becoming a risky persona non grata). One might tempting to make a program about digital influence that was horribly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that punched down at the characters. This show avoids both, creating a portrait of affluent young adult life that’s candid about the grot 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
