The performer enters the online meeting and immediately launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, sounding really regretful. She is only a couple of minutes delayed, she feels compelled to explain. “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 you want to hear. Additionally, it’s quite predictable. Those who have seen the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and brash project Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with the director and featured in together with close companion Ayo Edebiri—can understand that Sennott has much to share, ranging from on identity, sex, or the pros of forming a high-school fight club. Furthermore, after watching her new eight-part show I Love LA, it is clear that the star has further insights regarding the darker side of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a relatable figure for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress readily acknowledges enthusiastic, citing it together with the HBO hit, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as inspirations for her series, which follows the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and fledgling representative Maia. Notably, the largest presence on concept went to Entourage, that program focusing on an emerging celebrity navigating in a corrupt Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it throughout COVID-19, became “hooked”, and chose to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The idea for this project emerged—partly—from personal, initially rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed event for followers. That period marked a phase that saw her grasp major life lessons, professionally and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott commenced creating and acting stand-up while pursuing acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott decided to act independently, performing at live shows with Edebiri and posting hysterical (and very) weird comedy videos digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females fetishistically drawn to motherhood; another imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as like being stuck in a horror film. By chance, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her path, she says, has been people her own age supporting her, instead of established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, adding with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who had doubts regarding Sennott earlier will likely be feeling foolish today. As part of she describes as a “incredibly circular” development, she appears to created an ideal role. A few years back she uploaded a clip called on LA life on the internet, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a series about city dwellers balancing advantages of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being labeled as being a substance-abusing criminal, and potentially becoming a risky persona non grata). One might easy to produce a series about online fame that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, creating a depiction of advantaged young adult life that’s frank about the grot and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
