The performer appears on the video call and right away launches into an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, appearing genuinely regretful. Despite being only a couple of minutes late, she feels compelled to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s exactly what you want to experience. Additionally, it’s fairly expected. Viewers who know her boldly queer and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—that she penned with her creative partner and appeared in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—would already know that she holds much to discuss, be it on identity, intimacy, or the merits of creating a youth fight club. And, once you finish the recent seasonal program titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star carries even more insights about the struggles of modern youth (As a millennial, Sennott represents an honorary member of the gang, a tale-end millennial adept for bridging different age groups).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott admits to being a fan, citing the show alongside the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as influences for I Love LA, which tracks the travails of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also aspiring agent portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the largest spot on the moodboard went to the HBO series, the program about an emerging celebrity succeeding in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it throughout COVID-19, became “captivated”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The inspiration for this project emerged—to some extent—from firsthand, at first rocky, relocation to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a frequently discussed phenomenon for followers. This represented a phase that saw her learn some big truths, professionally and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” 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 Connecticut, Sennott began writing and performing stand-up while pursuing performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott decided to act independently, performing at open mics with her friend and sharing uproarious (and decidedly) weird comedy videos online. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed several females obsessively drawn to having babies; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being caught in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a Jewish wake with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she explains, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, as opposed to traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, continuing with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who had doubts regarding her then will likely be feeling foolish today. Through she labels a “astonishingly complete” story, she has manifested her dream vehicle. Previously she uploaded a video named on LA life on the internet, in which she lampooned film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a show about Angelenos managing the perks of internet fame (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a unreliable persona non grata). One might easy to produce a program about online fame that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, making for a portrait of affluent twentysomething existence that’s honest about the mess and the appeal.
Empathetic Approach
“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
