The star appears on the video call and immediately starts an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, sounding really regretful. 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. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, during an interview, that’s precisely what is ideal to encounter. Besides, it’s fairly predictable. Viewers who know her unapologetically openly gay and brash project Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with the director and appeared in together with close companion the talented actress—will be aware that Sennott holds a lot to share, whether on roles, relationships, or the merits of creating a high-school combat group. Plus, after watching the new eight-part program I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds further insights on the struggles of young adulthood (At 30, she serves as a bridge to younger audiences, on the cusp with a knack for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being an admirer, naming the show alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which details the travails of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and fledgling agent Maia. Perhaps, the most significant influence on the moodboard went to the popular sitcom, that HBO sitcom depicting a rising celebrity navigating in a gritty entertainment industry (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it throughout COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The concept for I Love LA came—in part—from personal, at first rocky, relocation to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about event for astrology heads. This represented a phase that saw her grasp significant insights, work-wise and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Growing up in New England, Sennott started writing and performing comedy while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at amateur nights with Ayo and uploading hysterical (and very) unconventional online content digitally. One, Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely drawn to having babies; another imagined working at the brand Hollister as akin to being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her path, she explains, has been contemporaries supporting her, instead of established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, adding with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who had doubts about her previously will surely be kicking themselves today. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she has manifested an ideal role. Previously she posted a clip titled about Los Angeles on social media, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a show about LA residents balancing the perks of internet fame (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your client being labeled as being a substance-abusing stealer, and possibly becoming a unreliable outcast). Some could easy to produce a show about internet celebrity that was overly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. The series does neither, making for a representation of advantaged young adult existence that’s candid about the chaos and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“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
