The performer appears on the video call and at once launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, sounding really regretful. Although she's only slightly late, she feels compelled to explain. “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!” Fortunately, in this context, this is precisely what is ideal to experience. Moreover, it’s quite predictable. Those who have seen the fearlessly openly gay and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—which she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and featured in with her friend the talented actress—will be aware that Sennott holds plenty to share, be it about gender, sex, or the merits of starting a high-school brawl society. Plus, after watching her new multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries even more perspectives about the challenges of modern youth (As a millennial, Sennott represents a bridge to younger audiences, on the cusp with a knack for straddling different age groups).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott is enthusiastic, referencing it alongside the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as guides for her series, which follows the struggles of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and aspiring talent manager Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the most significant influence on creative vision went to the HBO series, that HBO sitcom about an up-and-coming celebrity succeeding in a gritty entertainment industry (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it throughout the pandemic, became “captivated”, and decided to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The idea for this project emerged—partly—from personal, at first difficult, transition to Tinseltown and from the saturn return, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. This represented an era that involved her learn major life lessons, work-wise and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Raised in the East Coast, the star commenced developing and showcasing humor while enrolled in acting at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with Edebiri and sharing hysterical (and distinctly) weird skits online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed several females fetishistically obsessed with pregnancy; another envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as like being caught in a thriller. By chance, she met Emma through campus film circles and eventually featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a funeral gathering with shades of the intense thriller. The central motif of her path, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, as opposed to traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, stating with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who had doubts regarding her then will surely be regretting it currently. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she seems to have manifested an ideal role. Previously she uploaded content titled “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers managing benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your client being labeled as being a intoxicated criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). Some could simple to make a show about digital influence that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. The series does neither, making for a portrait of privileged millennial existence that’s candid about the mess and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she comments. “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
