The star enters the digital interview and immediately begins an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, sounding really regretful. Although she's only a couple of minutes late, she wants to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, in this context, that’s exactly what is ideal to hear. Additionally, it’s pretty unsurprising. Anyone who have seen her unapologetically openly gay and outspoken movie Bottoms—that she co-wrote with her creative partner and starred in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—will understand that she holds much to share, whether about gender, relationships, or the appeal of forming a teen combat group. Plus, after watching her latest seasonal program titled I Love LA, it is clear that she carries even more perspectives regarding the struggles of Gen Z life (At 30, Sennott represents a bridge of the gang, on the cusp with a knack for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress is an admirer, referencing it together with the HBO hit, Insecure and the innovative program as influences for her series, which tracks the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also new agent Maia. However, the biggest influence on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, the program about a rising Hollywood star navigating in a gritty LA scene (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it amid COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The inspiration for I Love LA came—partly—from personal, originally difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a popular event for followers. It was an era that saw her understand major life lessons, professionally and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “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 Connecticut, the star began creating and acting comedy while enrolled in performance at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She seized control, performing at open mics with her friend and posting hilarious (and very) bizarre skits online. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women fetishistically fixated on motherhood; a different one imagined being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a religious event with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she explains, has been contemporaries supporting her, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who were skeptical regarding her previously will certainly be kicking themselves today. As part of she labels a “astonishingly complete” story, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. Previously she shared a clip named on LA life online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a series about LA residents balancing benefits of internet fame (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). It would be tempting to create a series about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at those depicted. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a representation of affluent young adult living that’s frank about the grot and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
