The actress and writer discussing her side-splitting series about the messy appeal of today's youth existence
The performer appears on the online meeting and at once launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, appearing genuinely apologetic. Despite being only a bit behind, she feels compelled to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, during an interview, this is exactly what one hopes to experience. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Anyone familiar with her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and brash film Bottoms—that she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in with her friend Ayo Edebiri—will understand that Sennott has plenty to share, whether on identity, intimacy, or the merits of starting a youth brawl society. Furthermore, after watching her latest eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star holds additional insights regarding the struggles of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott is a bridge for this generation, on the cusp adept for bridging different age groups).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott is enthusiastic, referencing it together with the HBO hit, Insecure and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which follows the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also aspiring agent Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the biggest spot on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, that program about an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it amid the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and decided 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 explains. The concept for this project came—partly—from personal, initially difficult, relocation to LA and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed event for followers. It was an era that involved her grasp major truths, work-wise and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott started creating and acting stand-up while enrolled in theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” 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. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott seized control, appearing at amateur nights with Ayo and sharing uproarious (and distinctly) unconventional comedy videos on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely drawn to having babies; another envisioned working at the brand Hollister as like being trapped in a thriller. By chance, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a religious event with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she says, has been contemporaries supporting her, as opposed to traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who had doubts regarding her earlier will likely be kicking themselves now. Through she labels a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she seems to have created the perfect project. A few years back she shared a clip called about Los Angeles on social media, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a series about Angelenos juggling advantages of internet fame (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your associate being accused of being a substance-abusing stealer, and perhaps becoming a unreliable outcast). Some could simple to produce a program about digital influence that was horribly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that mocked at those depicted. This show steers clear of each, making for a representation of privileged millennial existence that’s frank about the chaos and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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