The star joins the online meeting and at once starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing truly remorseful. Although she's only slightly delayed, she wants to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, in this context, that’s precisely what is ideal to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty predictable. Anyone who have seen her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with her creative partner and appeared in together with collaborator the talented actress—will be aware that Sennott holds a lot to discuss, whether about roles, intimacy, or the appeal of forming a youth combat group. And, once you finish the new eight-part program I Love LA, viewers realize that the star holds even more insights on the darker side of Gen Z life (At 30, Sennott serves as a relatable figure to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial skilled for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being an admirer, naming the show in addition to Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as guides for the project, which details the struggles of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and fledgling talent manager Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the most significant spot on concept went to the popular sitcom, that show about an up-and-coming Hollywood star navigating in a corrupt Hollywood (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it amid COVID-19, became “captivated”, and decided to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The idea for the series emerged—in part—from firsthand, at first fractious, transition to LA and from the cosmic event, a popular phenomenon for enthusiasts. That period marked an era that included her grasp significant truths, in her career and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “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 …”
Starting Out
Growing up in New England, Sennott commenced developing and showcasing comedy while pursuing performance at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at amateur nights with her friend and posting uproarious (and decidedly) weird comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively obsessed with having babies; a different one portrayed being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being trapped in a scary movie. By chance, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her path, she says, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, rather than the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, continuing humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Those who were skeptical regarding her previously will surely be feeling foolish now. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” development, she has achieved an ideal role. Previously she uploaded content named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a show about city dwellers balancing advantages of internet fame (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being accused of being a substance-abusing criminal, and perhaps becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be easy to produce a program about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. This show does neither, creating a representation of advantaged millennial living that’s honest about the grot and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“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