The actress and writer discussing her uproarious series depicting that messy allure of younger generation lifestyle
The star appears on the digital interview and at once launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming really regretful. Despite being only slightly late, she feels compelled to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s precisely what one hopes to encounter. Moreover, it’s fairly predictable. Those who know the unapologetically openly gay and outspoken film Bottoms—which she co-wrote with the director and featured in together with her friend The Bear’s standout—can understand that Sennott holds much to say, be it about identity, relationships, or the pros of creating a youth brawl society. And, after watching the recent eight-part show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds additional perspectives regarding the challenges of young adulthood (As a millennial, she represents a bridge of the gang, on the cusp with a knack for connecting different age groups).
Influences and Creative Vision
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott readily acknowledges an admirer, citing it together with the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which tracks the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and aspiring representative Maia. However, the largest presence on the moodboard went to Entourage, that program focusing on a rising celebrity making his way in a corrupt LA scene (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it throughout COVID-19, became “captivated”, and decided 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 says. The idea for this project emerged—in part—from personal, originally rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. This represented an era that saw her grasp some big insights, work-wise and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Raised in Connecticut, the star began 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 says. “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?”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at live shows with Ayo and posting uproarious (and very) weird comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women intensely obsessed with motherhood; a different one imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being stuck in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually featuring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a religious event with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she says, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, rather than traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she repeats, continuing with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who had doubts regarding Sennott previously will surely be kicking themselves currently. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” development, she appears to manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded a video titled on LA life online, in which she parodied movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about Angelenos balancing advantages of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a risky persona non grata). It would be tempting to create a program about online fame that was overly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a representation of privileged young adult existence that’s frank about the chaos and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
