The actress and writer discussing her hilarious show about that chaotic glamour of Gen Z life
The star joins the online meeting and right away starts an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming really regretful. Despite being only slightly delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “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 exactly what is ideal to encounter. Moreover, it’s pretty expected. Viewers who know her boldly openly gay and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—that Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and starred in with her friend the talented actress—would understand that Sennott has plenty to share, whether on roles, sex, or the merits of forming a teen combat group. Plus, once you finish her recent eight-part show titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star has even more insights on the struggles of modern youth (At 30, she represents a relatable figure of the gang, on the cusp adept for connecting millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress admits to being a fan, referencing the show together with the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which follows the travails of a social media star Tallulah and her friend who is also aspiring agent Sennott’s character. However, the largest presence on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, the show focusing on an up-and-coming celebrity making his way in a gritty LA scene (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it amid lockdown, became “hooked”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“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 originated—in part—from her own, originally rocky, relocation to Los Angeles and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about occurrence for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that involved her understand major insights, work-wise and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Growing up in New England, the star started creating and acting comedy while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “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?”
She took matters into her own hands, performing at open mics with Ayo and sharing uproarious (and very) weird comedy videos online. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted characters obsessively drawn to pregnancy; another imagined being employed at a trendy retail outlet as like being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and ended up starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she says, has been contemporaries supporting her, as opposed to established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, continuing humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who were skeptical regarding Sennott previously will certainly be feeling foolish today. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” story, she appears to created an ideal role. Previously she uploaded content called “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a comedy about LA residents managing the perks of online celebrity (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your associate being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). Some could tempting to make a series about digital influence that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that punched down at those depicted. The series does neither, creating a representation of privileged young adult existence that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.
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
