The performer enters the video call and right away begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, sounding genuinely apologetic. Although she's only a couple of minutes late, she wants to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s precisely what one hopes to hear. Besides, it’s fairly expected. Viewers who know her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—which she penned with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside collaborator The Bear’s standout—would already know that Sennott possesses a lot to discuss, be it about gender, sex, or the merits of creating a youth fight club. And, by the end the new eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that she holds further thoughts regarding the challenges of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott represents a bridge for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for bridging both generations).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, citing it alongside Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as influences for I Love LA, which details the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and aspiring representative portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the largest influence on creative vision was reserved for Entourage, the HBO sitcom about an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it during the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and decided to add a fresh perspective 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 says. The idea for I Love LA emerged—partly—from firsthand, originally rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from the cosmic event, a popular phenomenon for astrology heads. This represented a phase that involved her understand major truths, professionally and in private life. “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
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott began creating and acting humor while pursuing performance at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She decided to act independently, taking the stage at amateur nights with Edebiri and posting hilarious (and distinctly) unconventional online content digitally. One, Baby Cult, centered on characters intensely obsessed with having babies; another portrayed working at the brand Hollister as like being stuck in a thriller. By chance, she met Seligman through campus film circles and eventually featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. The big theme of her journey, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, rather than the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, continuing with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who were skeptical about Sennott previously will surely be kicking themselves now. As part of she describes as a “wild, full-circle” development, she has manifested her dream vehicle. Previously she posted a video called about Los Angeles online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a series about LA residents balancing the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your associate being accused of being a substance-abusing thief, and possibly becoming a risky outcast). Some could simple to produce a program about internet celebrity that was horribly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at its subjects. The series avoids both, creating a representation of privileged millennial life that’s frank about the mess and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she observes. “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
