The star enters the digital interview and right away launches into an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, seeming really regretful. Despite being only slightly late, she feels compelled to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, in this context, that’s precisely what you want to hear. Moreover, it’s pretty predictable. Those who know the unapologetically queer and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and appeared in with close companion Ayo Edebiri—will understand that she holds much to say, ranging from about gender, intimacy, or the appeal of forming a teen brawl society. Plus, after watching her recent seasonal HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star has even more insights about the darker side of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott serves as an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp with a knack for straddling different age groups).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress is an admirer, citing the show in addition to Sex and the City, Insecure and the innovative program as influences for I Love LA, which follows the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and aspiring representative Maia. However, the largest presence on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, that HBO sitcom depicting a rising celebrity navigating in a corrupt Hollywood (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She began viewing it amid lockdown, became “obsessed”, and decided 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 idea for this project came—to some extent—from firsthand, originally rocky, transition to LA and from her cosmic event, a popular event for followers. It was an era that saw her learn major life lessons, in her career and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Raised in the East Coast, the star started writing and performing comedy while studying theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” 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?”
She decided to act independently, performing at amateur nights with her friend and sharing hysterical (and very) bizarre online content on the internet. One, Baby Cult, centered on characters intensely fixated on motherhood; another envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as like being stuck in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through campus film circles and ended up featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her career, she says, has been people her own age supporting her, rather than the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Those who questioned regarding Sennott previously will likely be feeling foolish today. In what she describes as a “wild, full-circle” story, she appears to created an ideal role. A few years back she posted a video called about Los Angeles on social media, in which she mocked movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a show about LA residents balancing benefits of internet fame (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being accused of being a intoxicated stealer, and potentially becoming a risky persona non grata). Some could tempting to produce a series about digital influence that was overly aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a depiction of affluent young adult life that’s candid about the grot and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
