The performer enters the online meeting and right away launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, sounding truly regretful. Although she's only a bit delayed, she wants to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, in this context, that’s exactly what is ideal to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty predictable. Anyone familiar with her fearlessly openly gay and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with the director and starred in together with her friend the talented actress—would be aware that Sennott holds much to say, ranging from on roles, sex, or the merits of starting a high-school fight club. Plus, by the end her recent eight-part show I Love LA, viewers realize that the star carries further thoughts on the struggles of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a relatable figure of the gang, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling different age groups).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Parallels to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, citing it together with Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which tracks the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and close companion and fledgling agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest influence on the moodboard went to the HBO series, the HBO sitcom focusing on an up-and-coming celebrity making his way in a corrupt Hollywood (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it amid lockdown, became “obsessed”, and decided to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The inspiration for this project originated—in part—from her own, at first difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. It was an era that involved her learn significant insights, professionally and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Raised in New England, Sennott began developing and showcasing comedy while pursuing performance at NYU’s Tisch. “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 took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at live shows with Ayo and uploading uproarious (and very) bizarre online content online. One, Baby Cult, depicted characters obsessively obsessed with motherhood; another imagined working at the brand Hollister as akin to being trapped in a thriller. By chance, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her path, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, rather than established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, stating humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who had doubts about Sennott then will likely be feeling foolish now. As part of she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she has achieved the perfect project. In 2019 she posted a video named on LA life online, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a comedy about LA residents managing benefits of internet fame (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your client being labeled as being a substance-abusing thief, and possibly becoming a risky persona non grata). One might easy to produce a program about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA steers clear of each, creating a depiction of privileged twentysomething life that’s frank about the grot and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
