The performer enters the video call and immediately begins an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, sounding truly remorseful. She is only slightly behind, she wants to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s precisely what is ideal to encounter. Moreover, it’s fairly expected. Anyone who know her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and outspoken film Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with her creative partner and starred in alongside close companion Ayo Edebiri—will be aware that she possesses much to say, whether about roles, intimacy, or the pros of forming a youth combat group. And, by the end her new eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star has additional thoughts on the challenges of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott serves as a bridge of the gang, a tale-end millennial skilled for connecting different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott admits to being a fan, referencing the show in addition to the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as influences for her series, which tracks the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and aspiring agent portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the most significant influence on creative vision went to Entourage, the HBO sitcom focusing on an emerging celebrity navigating in a corrupt entertainment industry (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it throughout the pandemic, became “captivated”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The idea for I Love LA came—partly—from her own, initially fractious, move to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a popular event for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that included her understand major life lessons, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott commenced creating and acting comedy while pursuing acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “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.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at live shows with Edebiri and sharing hilarious (and decidedly) bizarre comedy videos digitally. One, Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively obsessed with having babies; a different one envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a horror film. Interestingly, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately appearing in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a Jewish wake with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her career, she explains, has been peers supporting her, instead of the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, continuing humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Individuals who questioned regarding her previously will likely be regretting it now. Through she describes as a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she shared a video named “it’s LA” online, in which she mocked film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about LA residents balancing benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing thief, and possibly becoming a unreliable outcast). Some could easy to make a series about online fame that was extremely aspirational—or, worse, one that mocked at its subjects. This show does neither, making for a representation of affluent twentysomething life that’s frank about the chaos 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 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
