The star joins the video call and immediately starts an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, seeming truly remorseful. Despite being only slightly delayed, she wants to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, during an interview, that’s just what is ideal to experience. Moreover, it’s quite unsurprising. Those who have seen her unapologetically openly gay and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with the director and appeared in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—can be aware that Sennott possesses plenty to say, whether on roles, intimacy, or the merits of creating a high-school brawl society. Plus, by the end her new eight-part show I Love LA, it is clear that she holds even more perspectives about the struggles of modern youth (Now in her thirties, she serves as a bridge to younger audiences, straddling eras adept for straddling both generations).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress is an admirer, citing it together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as guides for the project, which details the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and fledgling agent Maia. Perhaps, the largest presence on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, that HBO sitcom about a rising Hollywood star navigating in an often-seedy LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it during lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose to add a fresh perspective 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 I Love LA originated—in part—from personal, originally fractious, relocation to LA and from her cosmic event, a popular phenomenon for astrology heads. This represented a phase that saw her learn significant life lessons, work-wise and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Raised in the East Coast, the star commenced creating and acting humor while enrolled in acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She seized control, performing at open mics with Ayo and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) weird online content digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely obsessed with pregnancy; a different one envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being caught in a horror film. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she says, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, instead of traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Anyone who questioned about her earlier will surely be kicking themselves currently. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she appears to manifested the perfect project. Previously she uploaded a video called about Los Angeles online, in which she parodied film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about Angelenos managing advantages of internet fame (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and potentially becoming a risky outcast). One might easy to create a series about digital influence that was horribly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at the characters. The series steers clear of each, making for a depiction of privileged twentysomething living that’s honest about the mess 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
