The performer enters the video call and immediately launches into an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, appearing really remorseful. Despite being only a bit behind, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s just what you want to hear. Moreover, it’s pretty predictable. Those who have seen her fearlessly queer and outspoken project titled Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with the director and starred in together with her friend Ayo Edebiri—would understand that Sennott holds plenty to say, whether about roles, intimacy, or the merits of starting a high-school combat group. And, once you finish her latest seasonal show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star has even more thoughts on the struggles of young adulthood (At 30, she is an honorary member to younger audiences, straddling eras with a knack for straddling both generations).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress admits to being a fan, referencing the show alongside the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and fledgling talent manager Maia. Notably, the most significant presence on concept went to the HBO series, the program focusing on an emerging A-list actor making his way in an often-seedy entertainment industry (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and resolved to put her own twist 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 this project emerged—partly—from her own, at first fractious, move to Tinseltown and from the saturn return, a popular occurrence for followers. That period marked a phase that involved her understand some big insights, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Brought up in New England, the star commenced developing and showcasing stand-up while enrolled in acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott seized control, appearing at live shows with her friend and uploading uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre skits digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women fetishistically drawn to motherhood; another imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a scary movie. By chance, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her path, she says, has been people her own age supporting her, rather than traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who were skeptical regarding Sennott previously will surely be feeling foolish today. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she has created the perfect project. In 2019 she shared a clip titled “it’s LA” online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a comedy about Angelenos juggling the perks of online celebrity (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being labeled as being a substance-abusing stealer, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). Some could tempting to produce a program about internet celebrity that was extremely glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at those depicted. I Love LA does neither, creating a representation of privileged millennial life that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“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
