The actress and writer discussing her hilarious show portraying the grotty allure of today's youth existence
The star joins the digital interview and at once launches into an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, appearing truly remorseful. Although she's only a couple of minutes late, she needs to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s just what you want to experience. Besides, it’s quite expected. Viewers familiar with her fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with the director and featured in alongside collaborator the talented actress—can already know that she has much to share, ranging from on gender, intimacy, or the appeal of starting a teen fight club. And, after watching the latest seasonal show titled I Love LA, it is clear that she carries even more insights about the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she is an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp skilled for straddling both generations).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges enthusiastic, naming the show together with the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as guides for the project, which tracks the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and her friend who is also new talent manager Sennott’s character. However, the largest spot on creative vision went to the HBO series, the HBO sitcom depicting a rising A-list actor making his way in a corrupt LA scene (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott began viewing it during COVID-19, became “hooked”, and decided to add a fresh perspective 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 says. The idea for I Love LA originated—partly—from her own, at first rocky, transition to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about event for followers. It was an era that involved her learn some big insights, in her career and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott started creating and acting humor while studying performance 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. “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. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She took matters into her own hands, appearing at amateur nights with Edebiri and uploading hilarious (and very) weird online content online. One, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women obsessively drawn to having babies; a different one portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as akin to being caught in a horror film. By chance, she connected with Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her path, she explains, has been people her own age offering opportunities, instead of established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who had doubts regarding Sennott earlier will likely be feeling foolish currently. Through she labels a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she appears to achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded a video called on LA life on the internet, in which she mocked film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a series about city dwellers balancing benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being labeled as being a drug-addled stealer, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be easy to make a program about internet celebrity that was extremely idealized—or, more problematic, one that mocked at its subjects. The series avoids both, resulting in a portrait of privileged millennial living that’s honest about the grot and the shine.
Balanced Perspective
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” she says. “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