The performer joins the video call and right away begins an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, appearing genuinely remorseful. She is only a bit behind, she feels compelled to clarify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, in this context, this is just what is ideal to hear. Moreover, it’s pretty expected. Those familiar with her unapologetically openly gay and outspoken project Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and featured in with close companion the talented actress—can be aware that she has much to discuss, whether about identity, relationships, or the appeal of forming a high-school combat group. Furthermore, once you finish the new eight-part show titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds additional insights regarding the challenges of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she represents a bridge for this generation, straddling eras skilled for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress is a fan, citing it alongside Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for the project, which tracks the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also aspiring talent manager Sennott’s character. However, the largest spot on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, the HBO sitcom about an emerging Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy entertainment industry (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it amid COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The concept for the series came—partly—from personal, initially fractious, transition to LA and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed event for enthusiasts. That period marked a phase that included her learn significant life lessons, work-wise and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “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…”
Starting Out
Brought up in New England, Sennott started writing and performing comedy while pursuing theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She seized control, taking the stage at live shows with Ayo and posting hilarious (and distinctly) weird comedy videos digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted characters fetishistically obsessed with having babies; another imagined being employed at the brand Hollister as like being trapped in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through campus film circles and ultimately featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Individuals who were skeptical about Sennott then will likely be regretting it now. Through she calls a “astonishingly complete” story, she has created an ideal role. Previously she uploaded content titled about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she parodied film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about Angelenos juggling benefits of internet fame (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be easy to create a show about digital influence that was overly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a representation of advantaged millennial life that’s honest 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
