The star enters the video call and at once begins an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, seeming truly regretful. Although she's only a couple of minutes late, she wants to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, in this context, this is exactly what you want to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty predictable. Anyone who have seen her unapologetically queer and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—which she co-wrote with the director and appeared in together with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—can be aware that she has much to say, be it on gender, relationships, or the merits of creating a teen fight club. And, by the end her latest eight-part program titled I Love LA, it is clear that she carries further perspectives on the struggles of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott represents a bridge to younger audiences, straddling eras with a knack for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and Sennott is enthusiastic, referencing the show in addition to the classic series, Insecure and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which follows the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and new representative Maia. Notably, the most significant spot on the moodboard was reserved for the HBO series, that show about an up-and-coming A-list actor navigating in a gritty entertainment industry (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She started watching it throughout the pandemic, became “hooked”, and chose to create a new version 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 notes. The idea for the series originated—to some extent—from her own, at first fractious, move to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a frequently discussed occurrence for enthusiasts. It was a time that involved her grasp significant insights, in her career and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Growing up in New England, Sennott began writing and performing humor while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She seized control, appearing at open mics with Ayo and uploading uproarious (and decidedly) weird comedy videos on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women obsessively fixated on motherhood; a different one envisioned working at the brand Hollister as akin to being caught in a horror film. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her career, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, adding with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Anyone who had doubts about her previously will likely be regretting it now. In what she describes as a “astonishingly complete” development, she seems to have created the perfect project. In 2019 she uploaded content called about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she mocked film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about Angelenos juggling benefits of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your associate being accused of being a intoxicated stealer, and perhaps becoming a risky pariah). One might easy to make a series about online fame that was horribly glamorous—or, worse, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA avoids both, making for a depiction of privileged young adult existence that’s honest about the grot and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
