The actress and writer discussing the uproarious series about the grotty glamour of Gen Z life
The performer joins the online meeting and right away launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, appearing genuinely apologetic. Although she's only a bit late, she wants to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is precisely what one hopes to encounter. Besides, it’s fairly expected. Those familiar with her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—which she penned with the director and featured in with her friend the talented actress—can be aware that Sennott possesses plenty to say, ranging from on gender, relationships, or the pros of forming a youth combat group. And, once you finish her new seasonal program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds further insights regarding the struggles of modern youth (Now in her thirties, she serves as a bridge for this generation, a tale-end millennial skilled for connecting different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Parallels to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott is an admirer, referencing the show in addition to the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as influences for her series, which details the struggles of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also fledgling agent Sennott’s character. However, the biggest influence on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, the HBO sitcom about an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it during the pandemic, became “hooked”, and decided to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The concept for I Love LA emerged—in part—from personal, at first fractious, relocation to LA and from the cosmic event, a popular event for astrology heads. It was a time that included her grasp some big truths, in her career and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “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…”
Early Beginnings
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott started creating and acting stand-up while studying performance 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. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She decided to act independently, performing at live shows with her friend and sharing uproarious (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos digitally. One, Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely fixated on motherhood; another portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as like being caught in a thriller. By chance, she met Emma through NYU’s movie community and ultimately featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her career, she explains, has been peers offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, stating amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who questioned about Sennott earlier will certainly be kicking themselves currently. As part of she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she posted a video named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she mocked movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about Angelenos managing advantages of online celebrity (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a substance-abusing stealer, and potentially becoming a unreliable persona non grata). One might easy to make a series about internet celebrity that was extremely idealized—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. This show avoids both, creating a representation of advantaged young adult existence that’s honest about the grot and the appeal.
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