The star joins the digital interview and right away starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, seeming genuinely apologetic. Despite being only a couple of minutes late, she wants to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s precisely what you want to encounter. Additionally, it’s fairly expected. Those who know the boldly queer and outspoken film Bottoms—which she co-wrote with her creative partner and appeared in alongside her friend the talented actress—will understand that Sennott has much to share, be it on roles, relationships, or the appeal of forming a teen fight club. And, by the end her new seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds additional thoughts regarding the challenges of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she is a bridge of the gang, on the cusp with a knack for bridging different age groups).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott admits to being a fan, naming the show alongside Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as guides for the project, which tracks the journey of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and fledgling agent Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the most significant spot on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, the show about an up-and-coming Hollywood star navigating in a corrupt Hollywood (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it during COVID-19, became “obsessed”, 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 this project originated—partly—from personal, at first difficult, move to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for enthusiasts. This represented a phase that involved her grasp significant truths, professionally and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” 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 …”
Humble Origins
Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced writing and performing comedy while studying theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She took matters into her own hands, performing at open mics with Ayo and uploading hilarious (and distinctly) bizarre skits online. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women fetishistically obsessed with motherhood; another envisioned being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being caught in a thriller. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a religious event with shades of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her career, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, as opposed to established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, stating with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who questioned regarding Sennott earlier will surely be regretting it currently. As part of she labels a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to manifested the perfect project. Previously she uploaded content titled about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers managing benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being suspected of being a drug-addled criminal, and perhaps becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be tempting to create a program about online fame that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. The series steers clear of each, creating a portrait of advantaged twentysomething existence that’s honest about the mess and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
