The star enters the video call and right away launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing really apologetic. She is only a couple of minutes delayed, she needs to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is exactly what is ideal to hear. Additionally, it’s quite expected. Those who have seen the unapologetically openly gay and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—which she penned with the director and appeared in together with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would already know that she has plenty to say, whether on roles, intimacy, or the merits of starting a high-school brawl society. Plus, once you finish her recent multi-episode program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds even more perspectives on the challenges of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott serves as an honorary member to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial skilled for straddling both generations).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges enthusiastic, citing the show alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and Atlanta as guides for her series, which follows the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and new agent Sennott’s character. However, the largest presence on creative vision belonged to the popular sitcom, the show focusing on a rising celebrity navigating in a corrupt Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it throughout COVID-19, became “hooked”, 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 says. The concept for this project originated—to some extent—from firsthand, initially difficult, move to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a popular event for astrology heads. That period marked a time that involved her understand major truths, in her career and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” 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 resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott began creating and acting humor while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She seized control, performing at open mics with Ayo and posting hilarious (and distinctly) unconventional comedy videos online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed several females intensely obsessed with pregnancy; another portrayed being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being stuck in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her journey, she explains, has been peers offering opportunities, instead of traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Anyone who had doubts regarding her previously will certainly be regretting it currently. As part of she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she posted a video titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she mocked movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a show about Angelenos managing the perks of internet fame (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). One might easy to produce a series about digital influence that was overly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a portrait of privileged twentysomething life that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.
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 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
