The actress and writer discussing her hilarious series depicting the grotty allure of younger generation life
The performer appears on the digital interview and at once starts an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, sounding genuinely regretful. Although she's only a couple of minutes late, she feels compelled to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s precisely what you want to encounter. Besides, it’s fairly unsurprising. Those who have seen the unapologetically openly gay and brash film Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that Sennott has plenty to say, ranging from on roles, intimacy, or the merits of starting a teen combat group. Plus, by the end the new eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds further perspectives on the struggles of Gen Z life (At 30, Sennott is a bridge of the gang, a tale-end millennial adept for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, referencing it in addition to the HBO hit, Insecure and the innovative program as inspirations for her series, which tracks the travails of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also fledgling talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the largest influence on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, the show 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 COVID-19, became “hooked”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The concept for the series originated—to some extent—from her own, initially fractious, transition to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed event for followers. That period marked a time that involved her grasp significant truths, professionally and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in New England, the star started writing and performing stand-up while studying theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She seized control, appearing at amateur nights with Edebiri and posting hilarious (and distinctly) bizarre comedy videos online. One, Baby Cult, depicted characters fetishistically drawn to having babies; another imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through campus film circles and eventually appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her path, she says, has been peers giving her a shot, instead of established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she repeats, adding with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who were skeptical about her previously will surely be regretting it now. As part of she describes as a “wild, full-circle” story, she has created her dream vehicle. Previously she uploaded a video named on LA life on the internet, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers juggling benefits of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your client being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and possibly becoming a risky pariah). Some could easy to create a program about internet celebrity that was overly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at the characters. I Love LA does neither, making for a depiction of privileged twentysomething living that’s honest about the grot and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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