The star appears on the online meeting and right away launches into an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming truly regretful. She is only slightly late, she needs to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, in this context, that’s precisely what one hopes to hear. Besides, it’s fairly unsurprising. Viewers who know the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken project Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and starred in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would understand that she possesses plenty to share, whether about identity, sex, or the merits of creating a youth combat group. And, after watching her latest seasonal HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds further perspectives on the darker side of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she serves as a relatable figure of the gang, on the cusp skilled for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges an admirer, referencing the show together with the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for her series, which tracks the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also aspiring talent manager Sennott’s character. Notably, the most significant presence on creative vision went to the HBO series, that HBO sitcom focusing on an emerging A-list actor succeeding in a corrupt Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She started watching it during 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 explains. The concept for this project originated—to some extent—from personal, at first difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed occurrence for followers. This represented an era that involved her learn significant life lessons, work-wise and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Raised in Connecticut, the star started developing and showcasing comedy while studying theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “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. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She seized control, taking the stage at open mics with Edebiri and posting hysterical (and distinctly) weird comedy videos online. One, titled Baby Cult, followed characters obsessively obsessed with having babies; another portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually featuring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her path, she notes, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she repeats, adding with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Those who were skeptical regarding her then will likely be regretting it currently. Through she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she appears to created an ideal role. A few years back she posted content called on LA life on social media, in which she mocked film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a series about city dwellers juggling benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable pariah). Some could tempting to create a show about online fame that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a portrait of advantaged twentysomething existence that’s frank about the mess and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
