The star appears on the digital interview and at once starts an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, appearing genuinely remorseful. Despite being only a couple of minutes late, she needs to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, during an interview, that’s exactly what is ideal to experience. Besides, it’s fairly predictable. Anyone familiar with the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—which she collaborated on with the director and appeared in together with her friend The Bear’s standout—will be aware that she has plenty to share, whether on gender, relationships, or the merits of starting a high-school combat group. And, once you finish the latest multi-episode show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds even more thoughts on the darker side of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she represents an honorary member for this generation, a tale-end millennial adept for straddling different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott admits to being a fan, naming it in addition to the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as guides for I Love LA, which follows the struggles of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and new agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the biggest spot on concept belonged to the popular sitcom, the show focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in a gritty LA scene (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it throughout COVID-19, became “captivated”, and decided 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 explains. The concept for this project emerged—to some extent—from her own, at first rocky, move to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about phenomenon for astrology heads. That period marked an era that saw her understand significant life lessons, in her career and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” 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
Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced creating and acting humor while pursuing acting 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 says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. 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?”
Sennott seized control, appearing at amateur nights with Ayo and uploading hysterical (and very) unconventional skits digitally. One, Baby Cult, depicted several females fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; another portrayed working at the brand Hollister as similar to being trapped in a horror film. By chance, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a funeral gathering with shades of the intense thriller. The central motif of her career, she notes, has been peers supporting her, as opposed to the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who questioned regarding Sennott earlier will likely be kicking themselves today. Through she labels a “wild, full-circle” development, she appears to created an ideal role. Previously she uploaded a video named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a comedy about LA residents juggling benefits of internet fame (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be tempting to produce a program about digital influence that was overly aspirational—or, worse, one that mocked at those depicted. The series steers clear of each, creating a depiction of affluent twentysomething existence that’s honest about the grot and the shine.
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 says. “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
