The performer appears on the online meeting and right away launches into an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, sounding genuinely apologetic. She is only a couple of minutes behind, she feels compelled to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is precisely what you want to hear. Besides, it’s quite expected. Anyone familiar with her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and outspoken movie Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and appeared in with her friend the talented actress—would be aware that Sennott possesses much to share, whether on roles, sex, or the merits of starting a high-school combat group. Plus, once you finish the new multi-episode HBO series titled I Love LA, it is clear that she carries even more thoughts on the darker side of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott is an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp skilled for connecting both generations).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress is enthusiastic, naming the show in addition to Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as inspirations for her series, which tracks the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. However, the most significant spot on creative vision went to the HBO series, that HBO sitcom focusing on a rising celebrity making his way in a gritty LA scene (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She started watching it amid the pandemic, became “hooked”, and decided to create a new version 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 explains. The concept for the series originated—to some extent—from personal, originally rocky, move to LA and from the saturn return, a popular event for followers. It was a time that included her grasp major insights, professionally and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Starting Out
Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott started writing and performing stand-up while studying theatre at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with Ayo and posting uproarious (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos online. One, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women intensely fixated on motherhood; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being caught in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through campus film circles and ended up starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her path, she says, has been contemporaries supporting her, rather than the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she repeats, adding amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who questioned regarding Sennott previously will surely be kicking themselves currently. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she appears to achieved an ideal role. In 2019 she uploaded content titled “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a series about LA residents managing the perks of online celebrity (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your client being suspected of being a drug-addled criminal, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). It would be easy to make a show about online fame that was overly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at its subjects. The series avoids both, making for a portrait of affluent twentysomething living that’s candid about the chaos and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
