The actress and writer discussing the side-splitting series depicting that messy appeal of Gen Z life
The star appears on the online meeting and right away begins an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, sounding genuinely apologetic. Although she's only a bit behind, she needs to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is exactly what one hopes to experience. Moreover, it’s pretty predictable. Those who have seen the boldly openly gay and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—which she penned with Emma Seligman and appeared in together with close companion The Bear’s standout—would understand that she possesses a lot to say, whether on roles, intimacy, or the pros of forming a teen brawl society. Furthermore, after watching the recent eight-part program I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she has even more perspectives about the challenges of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott is a bridge to younger audiences, straddling eras with a knack for bridging different age groups).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, naming it together with Sex and the City, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as influences for her series, which follows the journey of a social media star Tallulah and close companion who is also fledgling agent portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the largest presence on concept went to the popular sitcom, that show about a rising Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it throughout the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The idea for I Love LA originated—partly—from personal, at first fractious, relocation to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a popular event for enthusiasts. This represented a phase that saw her understand major life lessons, work-wise and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” 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, Sennott began creating and acting stand-up while studying theatre 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.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She took matters into her own hands, appearing at live shows with Ayo and uploading uproarious (and distinctly) unconventional online content on the internet. One, Baby Cult, centered on characters fetishistically fixated on pregnancy; another imagined being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being stuck in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through campus film circles and ended up starring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a religious event with shades of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, as opposed to the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Anyone who were skeptical regarding her previously will certainly be feeling foolish today. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” story, she appears to achieved the perfect project. In 2019 she uploaded content named about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she lampooned film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about Angelenos balancing advantages of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being labeled as being a substance-abusing criminal, and potentially becoming a unreliable outcast). One might easy to make a program about internet celebrity that was horribly glamorous—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA steers clear of each, resulting in a representation of privileged twentysomething living that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
