The performer joins the digital interview and immediately starts an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely remorseful. Although she's only a bit behind, she needs 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, this is exactly what is ideal to hear. Besides, it’s fairly expected. Those who have seen her unapologetically queer and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—that Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside close companion the talented actress—will understand that Sennott has a lot to say, ranging from about gender, sex, or the merits of forming a high-school fight club. And, by the end her recent seasonal show I Love LA, viewers realize that the star carries additional perspectives about the struggles of modern youth (Now in her thirties, she is a bridge of the gang, a tale-end millennial adept for straddling different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott is an admirer, naming it in addition to the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as influences for the project, which tracks the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the largest influence on concept was reserved for the popular sitcom, the program depicting an up-and-coming celebrity succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She started watching it amid lockdown, became “captivated”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The concept for I Love LA came—partly—from personal, initially fractious, move to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about event for astrology heads. It was a time that included her learn some big insights, work-wise and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott began writing and performing stand-up while studying acting at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “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, taking the stage at live shows with Edebiri and sharing hysterical (and very) unconventional skits on the internet. One, Baby Cult, followed several females intensely drawn to motherhood; another envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being stuck in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, rather than traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who had doubts regarding Sennott earlier will surely be regretting it currently. As part of she labels a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to created the perfect project. Previously she posted a video named “it’s LA” online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a show about LA residents juggling advantages of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being labeled as being a substance-abusing thief, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). One might tempting to make a series about internet celebrity that was extremely glamorous—or, worse, one that belittled at those depicted. The series avoids both, resulting in a representation of privileged millennial life that’s honest about the grot and the shine.
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 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
