The star joins the video call and immediately launches into an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, sounding really remorseful. Although she's only a couple of minutes behind, she needs to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, during an interview, this is exactly what is ideal to hear. Additionally, it’s quite unsurprising. Viewers who have seen the unapologetically queer and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—that she collaborated on with her creative partner and featured in with her friend Ayo Edebiri—will understand that Sennott holds plenty to share, be it about roles, intimacy, or the pros of forming a teen brawl society. Plus, after watching the new seasonal HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that the star holds even more perspectives on the struggles of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she is a relatable figure to younger audiences, straddling eras adept for bridging both generations).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott readily acknowledges enthusiastic, referencing the show together with Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also new agent Sennott’s character. However, the biggest spot on concept belonged to Entourage, that show about an emerging Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it during lockdown, became “hooked”, and resolved to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The inspiration for the series originated—to some extent—from personal, at first rocky, move to LA and from the saturn return, a popular event for astrology heads. This represented an era that included her learn major truths, professionally and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Raised in the East Coast, the star began writing and performing humor while studying acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She seized control, taking the stage at open mics with Edebiri and sharing hilarious (and very) bizarre skits on the internet. One, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women obsessively fixated on motherhood; another envisioned working at the brand Hollister as similar to being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through campus film circles and eventually featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a religious event with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her journey, she says, has been peers giving her a shot, instead of established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who were skeptical regarding her earlier will certainly be feeling foolish now. As part of she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she has created her dream vehicle. A few years back she shared a clip called “it’s LA” online, in which she mocked film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a comedy about LA residents juggling benefits of internet fame (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a unreliable outcast). Some could tempting to create a series about internet celebrity that was horribly idealized—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA avoids both, making for a representation of affluent 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 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
