The star joins the video call and right away begins an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, appearing truly regretful. Despite being only a couple of minutes delayed, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s exactly what is ideal to encounter. Moreover, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone familiar with the boldly openly gay and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—which Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and featured in together with collaborator The Bear’s standout—can understand that Sennott possesses plenty to share, be it about roles, intimacy, or the appeal of forming a high-school brawl society. Plus, after watching the new multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that she has even more insights on the challenges of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents an honorary member to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial skilled for straddling different age groups).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott is an admirer, citing it together with the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the travails of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also new talent manager portrayed by Sennott. However, the biggest presence on creative vision went to the HBO series, the show depicting an up-and-coming A-list actor succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it throughout COVID-19, became “captivated”, 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 notes. The concept for I Love LA emerged—in part—from personal, initially fractious, move to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed event for followers. That period marked a phase that saw her grasp major insights, work-wise and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Raised in New England, Sennott started creating and acting stand-up while pursuing acting 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. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She took matters into her own hands, appearing at amateur nights with Edebiri and uploading uproarious (and distinctly) unconventional skits online. One, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women obsessively fixated on motherhood; a different one imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually appearing in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her journey, she says, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, instead of the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who questioned regarding Sennott earlier will likely be regretting it currently. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” story, she appears to achieved an ideal role. In 2019 she uploaded content called on LA life online, in which she mocked film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a comedy about city dwellers balancing advantages of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your client being labeled as being a substance-abusing stealer, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be tempting to make a program about digital influence that was horribly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at the characters. This show does neither, making for a portrait of advantaged young adult living 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
