The performer appears on the video call and at once begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, seeming genuinely apologetic. She is only a couple of minutes behind, she needs to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s just what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s pretty unsurprising. Viewers who know the fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with her creative partner and featured in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that she possesses plenty to share, ranging from on identity, sex, or the appeal of forming a youth combat group. Furthermore, after watching her recent multi-episode show I Love LA, it is clear that the star carries additional perspectives about the challenges of modern youth (As a millennial, Sennott serves as a bridge to younger audiences, straddling eras with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, naming the show in addition to the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also aspiring representative portrayed by Sennott. However, the most significant influence on creative vision went to the popular sitcom, the program about a rising Hollywood star making his way in a corrupt Hollywood (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott started watching it amid lockdown, became “hooked”, and decided to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The inspiration for the series originated—in part—from firsthand, initially rocky, relocation to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed occurrence for enthusiasts. This represented a time that involved her grasp significant life lessons, professionally and individually. “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. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Brought up in New England, the star began writing and performing humor while studying performance at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at open mics with Edebiri and posting hilarious (and distinctly) weird skits online. One, Baby Cult, depicted characters fetishistically fixated on having babies; a different one portrayed working at the brand Hollister as akin to being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a Jewish wake with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her journey, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, instead of the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who were skeptical regarding her previously will certainly be regretting it currently. As part of she calls a “astonishingly complete” development, she seems to have manifested the perfect project. A few years back she posted a clip named about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a comedy about LA residents managing the perks of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being accused of being a substance-abusing criminal, and perhaps becoming a risky outcast). Some could simple to make a show about digital influence that was extremely idealized—or, more problematic, one that punched down at its subjects. This show steers clear of each, creating a depiction of affluent young adult living that’s honest about the chaos 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 comments. “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
