The performer enters the online meeting and at once begins an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, sounding truly remorseful. Although she's only a bit delayed, she wants to explain. “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, in this context, this is just what one hopes to encounter. Moreover, it’s fairly predictable. Viewers who have seen her fearlessly queer and brash movie titled Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and appeared in alongside her friend The Bear’s standout—would understand that she has a lot to discuss, be it on gender, relationships, or the merits of starting a teen fight club. Furthermore, by the end the latest seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, it is clear that she has even more thoughts about the challenges of Gen Z life (At 30, she is a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress admits to being an admirer, referencing it together with the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as influences for the project, which tracks the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also fledgling agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest presence on the moodboard was reserved for Entourage, that show depicting an emerging celebrity making his way in a corrupt Hollywood (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it during the pandemic, became “hooked”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The idea for the series originated—to some extent—from firsthand, originally fractious, transition to LA and from the astrological phase, a popular occurrence for astrology heads. That period marked an era that saw her learn some big insights, in her career and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Brought up in Connecticut, the star started writing and performing comedy while pursuing acting at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “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. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She decided to act independently, performing at amateur nights with her friend and uploading hysterical (and very) weird skits on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters intensely fixated on motherhood; a different one envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being stuck in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through campus film circles and eventually appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her path, she explains, has been peers giving her a shot, as opposed to traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, stating amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who questioned about her then will surely be kicking themselves now. In what she labels a “wild, full-circle” development, she has achieved her dream vehicle. Previously she posted a clip named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about LA residents balancing benefits of online celebrity (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and perhaps becoming a risky pariah). It would be easy to create a series about internet celebrity that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA steers clear of each, resulting in a representation of affluent twentysomething existence that’s candid about the grot and the shine.
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 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
