The performer joins the online meeting and right away starts an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, sounding truly remorseful. Although she's only a bit late, she wants to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is just what you want to experience. Moreover, it’s pretty predictable. Anyone who know her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and featured in alongside close companion Ayo Edebiri—can understand that she has plenty to say, whether on identity, intimacy, or the appeal of forming a high-school combat group. Plus, by the end the recent seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds further perspectives on the challenges of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she is a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for connecting both generations).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, referencing it together with Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as influences for her series, which follows the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also fledgling representative Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest influence on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, the program depicting a rising A-list actor succeeding in a gritty entertainment industry (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it amid lockdown, became “obsessed”, and decided to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The idea for I Love LA came—to some extent—from her own, initially rocky, move to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for enthusiasts. It was a phase that included her understand some big truths, in her career and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Growing up in New England, the star started developing and showcasing stand-up while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at open mics with Edebiri and sharing uproarious (and decidedly) weird comedy videos digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed several females obsessively obsessed with having babies; a different one portrayed being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a horror film. Interestingly, she met Emma through campus film circles and eventually featuring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her path, she says, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, instead of the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, adding humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Those who were skeptical regarding her earlier will surely be feeling foolish today. Through she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she seems to have created the perfect project. Previously she uploaded a clip called on LA life online, in which she parodied movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a show about LA residents juggling benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your associate being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and possibly becoming a risky outcast). Some could tempting to produce a show about online fame that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at those depicted. This show does neither, creating a portrait of privileged young adult life that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.
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 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
