The actress and writer on the uproarious show portraying the messy appeal of Gen Z life
The star enters the video call and immediately starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, seeming truly apologetic. She is only slightly delayed, she needs to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s precisely what you want to hear. Besides, it’s fairly unsurprising. Those who know the unapologetically openly gay and outspoken project Bottoms—that she penned with the director and featured in with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—will be aware that she has plenty to discuss, ranging from about roles, relationships, or the appeal of forming a youth brawl society. Plus, after watching the latest multi-episode show titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star carries even more insights about the struggles of modern youth (As a millennial, Sennott represents a bridge for this generation, straddling eras adept for connecting different age groups).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress is enthusiastic, referencing the show together with Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as guides for I Love LA, which follows the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and fledgling representative Sennott’s character. Notably, the most significant spot on creative vision belonged to Entourage, the HBO sitcom focusing on a rising celebrity making his way in an often-seedy entertainment industry (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She discovered it during COVID-19, became “captivated”, and chose to create a new version 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 notes. The inspiration for I Love LA originated—to some extent—from personal, initially rocky, move to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. That period marked a phase that included her grasp major insights, in her career and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott commenced writing and performing stand-up while studying theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “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. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott seized control, performing at live shows with her friend and posting uproarious (and decidedly) unconventional skits digitally. One, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically drawn to motherhood; a different one imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a religious event with shades of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her career, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, as opposed to the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, adding with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who had doubts regarding her then will surely be regretting it now. In what she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted a video titled “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a show about city dwellers managing the perks of internet fame (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a unreliable outcast). It would be tempting to produce a show about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a portrait of privileged millennial living that’s frank about the grot and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
