The star appears on the digital interview and immediately starts an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing genuinely apologetic. Although she's only a couple of minutes behind, she wants to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, during an interview, this is exactly what one hopes to hear. Besides, it’s fairly expected. Those familiar with her boldly openly gay and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—which she penned with her creative partner and featured in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—will understand that Sennott has much to discuss, ranging from on roles, sex, or the pros of creating a high-school brawl society. And, once you finish her latest eight-part show titled I Love LA, it is clear that she carries even more insights on the challenges of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott represents a relatable figure for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for connecting both generations).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress admits to being a fan, citing the show together with the classic series, Insecure and the innovative program as guides for the project, which details the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and new representative portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the biggest spot on concept was reserved for Entourage, the HBO sitcom depicting an up-and-coming A-list actor navigating in an often-seedy entertainment industry (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She began viewing it during the pandemic, became “hooked”, and decided to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The inspiration for I Love LA emerged—to some extent—from personal, at first rocky, move to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed phenomenon for enthusiasts. It was a time that saw her grasp significant truths, in her career and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Brought up in Connecticut, the star began developing and showcasing stand-up while enrolled in acting at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. 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, performing at amateur nights with Ayo and uploading hysterical (and decidedly) bizarre comedy videos online. One, Baby Cult, depicted characters intensely fixated on having babies; a different one envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a horror film. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a Jewish wake with shades of the intense thriller. The central motif of her path, she notes, has been peers supporting her, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she repeats, continuing humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who had doubts regarding Sennott earlier will likely be kicking themselves currently. As part of she calls a “astonishingly complete” development, she appears to manifested an ideal role. A few years back she posted a clip called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a show about LA residents juggling the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing criminal, and potentially becoming a unreliable outcast). Some could simple to create a show about internet celebrity that was horribly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a portrait of advantaged young adult life that’s candid about the chaos and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
