The performer appears on the digital interview and at once launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming truly apologetic. Although she's only a couple of minutes late, she wants to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is just what one hopes to experience. Besides, it’s pretty predictable. Those familiar with the unapologetically openly gay and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with her creative partner and starred in with her friend Ayo Edebiri—can understand that she possesses plenty to say, whether on roles, sex, or the pros of creating a teen fight club. Plus, once you finish the latest seasonal HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that the star has further perspectives about the struggles of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she serves as a bridge for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott admits to being a fan, citing it together with Sex and the City, Insecure and Atlanta as inspirations for the project, which follows the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and new representative portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the most significant presence on the moodboard went to the HBO series, that program focusing on an emerging A-list actor making his way in an often-seedy LA scene (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott began viewing it during the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The inspiration for I Love LA came—in part—from personal, originally difficult, move to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a frequently discussed occurrence for enthusiasts. This represented an era that saw her understand major life lessons, in her career and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Raised in New England, Sennott began creating and acting humor while enrolled in acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “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?”
Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at amateur nights with her friend and posting hysterical (and distinctly) weird online content online. One, Baby Cult, centered on several females fetishistically drawn to having babies; a different one portrayed being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being stuck in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through campus film circles and ended up starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her journey, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, as opposed to established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, adding humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who were skeptical about her previously will surely be kicking themselves currently. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she appears to achieved the perfect project. A few years back she posted a clip called on LA life on the internet, in which she lampooned movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a show about Angelenos juggling the perks of digital stardom (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing stealer, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be simple to make a series about digital influence that was extremely aspirational—or, worse, one that punched down at those depicted. This show does neither, resulting in a depiction of affluent young adult existence that’s honest about the grot and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
