The performer joins the video call and right away launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing genuinely apologetic. She is only slightly behind, she wants to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s just what one hopes to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty unsurprising. Viewers familiar with her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and brash movie Bottoms—that Sennott penned with the director and appeared in alongside her friend the talented actress—will understand that she has plenty to discuss, ranging from about gender, sex, or the merits of creating a youth brawl society. And, once you finish the latest multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star carries even more thoughts regarding the struggles of modern youth (At 30, Sennott represents a bridge of the gang, a tale-end millennial skilled for straddling both generations).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and Sennott is enthusiastic, citing it alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as influences for I Love LA, which follows the travails of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also aspiring talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the largest spot on the moodboard went to Entourage, that show about an up-and-coming celebrity navigating in an often-seedy entertainment industry (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott started watching it throughout lockdown, became “hooked”, and decided to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The idea for I Love LA originated—in part—from firsthand, initially difficult, relocation to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a popular event for astrology heads. It was a phase that saw her grasp significant truths, professionally and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in New England, the star started writing and performing humor while enrolled in theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “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. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She seized control, performing at open mics with Ayo and uploading uproarious (and very) bizarre skits on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on a group of women obsessively obsessed with motherhood; a different one envisioned working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being stuck in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a religious event with echoes of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, continuing humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who were skeptical regarding Sennott earlier will surely be kicking themselves today. In what she describes as a “astonishingly complete” story, she seems to have manifested the perfect project. Previously she uploaded a clip called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she mocked movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about Angelenos managing the perks of online celebrity (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being labeled as being a drug-addled criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). Some could easy to produce a program about internet celebrity that was overly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that punched down at those depicted. The series avoids both, resulting in a depiction of advantaged young adult living that’s candid about the grot and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she says. “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
