The star joins the video call and at once launches into an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, sounding genuinely remorseful. She is only slightly late, she wants to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, during an interview, that’s just what you want to experience. Moreover, it’s quite predictable. Those who know the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and outspoken project Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with the director and appeared in together with her friend The Bear’s standout—will understand that she has a lot to share, be it on gender, intimacy, or the merits of creating a high-school fight club. And, after watching the latest eight-part HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that the star carries additional thoughts on the struggles of modern youth (At 30, Sennott serves as an honorary member of the gang, straddling eras with a knack for straddling both generations).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott admits to being an admirer, citing it together with Sex and the City, Insecure and the innovative program as influences for I Love LA, which follows the journey of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and aspiring agent Maia. Notably, the biggest presence on creative vision was reserved for Entourage, the show focusing on an emerging A-list actor making his way in a gritty Hollywood (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it during COVID-19, became “hooked”, and decided to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The concept for this project came—in part—from firsthand, originally difficult, transition to LA and from the astrological phase, a frequently discussed event for astrology heads. This represented a phase that saw her understand significant insights, work-wise and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “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
Brought up in New England, the star commenced creating and acting comedy while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at open mics with her friend and posting uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre online content digitally. One, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women obsessively fixated on having babies; another imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as like being caught in a scary movie. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, instead of the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, stating humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who were skeptical regarding her previously will certainly be kicking themselves today. Through she labels a “incredibly circular” development, she seems to have manifested an ideal role. In 2019 she posted a clip called on LA life on social media, in which she mocked film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about LA residents balancing benefits of internet fame (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing thief, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). Some could simple to produce a series about internet celebrity that was overly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. This show does neither, resulting in a portrait of affluent twentysomething existence that’s frank about the chaos and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“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
