The performer enters the online meeting and right away launches into an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, seeming really remorseful. Although she's only a bit behind, she feels compelled to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s exactly what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s quite unsurprising. Viewers familiar with her fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—that Sennott penned with the director and appeared in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—would understand that Sennott holds much to discuss, ranging from about roles, relationships, or the merits of starting a high-school fight club. And, by the end the latest multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that the star carries additional perspectives about the challenges of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she represents a relatable figure of the gang, on the cusp with a knack for connecting both generations).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, referencing it alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and the innovative program as influences for her series, which follows the travails of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also fledgling agent Maia. However, the most significant spot on concept belonged to the HBO series, that show about a rising Hollywood star navigating in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it amid the pandemic, became “captivated”, and chose to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The inspiration for the series emerged—in part—from personal, originally difficult, move to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a frequently discussed event for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that involved her understand some big insights, in her career and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Brought up in New England, Sennott began creating and acting humor while enrolled in acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She decided to act independently, performing at amateur nights with Ayo and sharing hysterical (and distinctly) weird online content digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically fixated on having babies; another envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a religious event with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her journey, she notes, has been peers offering opportunities, instead of the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, stating amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Individuals who were skeptical about Sennott then will likely be kicking themselves now. As part of she describes as a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she has achieved her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted content titled about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she lampooned movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a show about LA residents balancing benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and possibly becoming a risky pariah). One might tempting to make a show about digital influence that was overly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA does neither, creating a depiction of advantaged young adult existence that’s candid about the mess and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she comments. “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
