The performer enters the digital interview and at once starts an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, sounding really apologetic. Despite being only slightly delayed, she needs to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, for a writer, this is precisely what you want to encounter. Additionally, it’s fairly expected. Those who know her fearlessly openly gay and outspoken film titled Bottoms—that she penned with Emma Seligman and featured in alongside collaborator the talented actress—will already know that Sennott has much to discuss, be it about gender, sex, or the appeal of forming a teen combat group. And, once you finish her new eight-part show I Love LA, it is clear that she carries further perspectives about the challenges of Gen Z life (At 30, she represents a bridge for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for straddling different age groups).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being a fan, citing it alongside Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as guides for I Love LA, which follows the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also new talent manager Sennott’s character. However, the biggest influence on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, that HBO sitcom depicting an emerging Hollywood star making his way in a corrupt Hollywood (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it amid lockdown, became “captivated”, and resolved to create a new version 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 emerged—to some extent—from firsthand, initially difficult, relocation to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a popular phenomenon for followers. That period marked an era that involved her learn significant truths, in her career and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “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…”
Humble Origins
Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott began developing and showcasing stand-up while enrolled in performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, performing at open mics with Edebiri and posting hilarious (and distinctly) unconventional online content on the internet. One, Baby Cult, depicted several females intensely fixated on having babies; a different one portrayed working at the brand Hollister as similar to being caught in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a religious event with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, instead of the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, stating humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Those who had doubts regarding her earlier will certainly be regretting it currently. As part of she labels a “astonishingly complete” development, she has created the perfect project. A few years back she uploaded a video named “it’s LA” online, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a series about city dwellers balancing the perks of digital stardom (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and possibly becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be easy to create a show about digital influence that was overly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a portrait of advantaged millennial living that’s honest about the chaos and the glamour.
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
