The star joins the video call and at once begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely remorseful. She is only a couple of minutes late, she feels compelled 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!” Thankfully, during an interview, that’s precisely what you want to experience. Additionally, it’s fairly predictable. Anyone familiar with her boldly queer and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—that she penned with the director and appeared in alongside close companion the talented actress—would be aware that Sennott has a lot to discuss, ranging from on gender, relationships, or the appeal of forming a high-school combat group. And, once you finish the new eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that she holds additional insights regarding the darker side of modern youth (As a millennial, she serves as an honorary member for this generation, a tale-end millennial adept for bridging both generations).
Influences and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott is enthusiastic, referencing it in addition to Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which follows the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and aspiring agent Maia. Perhaps, the largest influence on the moodboard went to the HBO series, that show focusing on an emerging Hollywood star succeeding in a corrupt LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott started watching it throughout lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose to put her own twist 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 says. The inspiration for the series originated—to some extent—from personal, originally difficult, relocation to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a popular phenomenon for astrology heads. That period marked a time that included her understand major life lessons, in her career and in private life. “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 was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott began creating and acting comedy while studying theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott seized control, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and uploading hysterical (and very) bizarre online content digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters fetishistically drawn to motherhood; a different one envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as like being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately appearing in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been peers supporting her, rather than the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she repeats, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who questioned regarding her previously will certainly be kicking themselves currently. Through she describes as a “wild, full-circle” development, she appears to created the perfect project. In 2019 she shared a clip titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about Angelenos balancing the perks of internet fame (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your associate being suspected of being a drug-addled criminal, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). Some could simple to create a show about internet celebrity that was extremely glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at those depicted. The series does neither, creating a representation of privileged millennial life that’s candid about the mess and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
