The actress and writer on the uproarious series about that messy appeal of younger generation lifestyle
The star appears on the online meeting and right away begins an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, seeming truly remorseful. Although she's only slightly late, she feels compelled to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s just what you want to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty unsurprising. Those who have seen the fearlessly queer and brash movie titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with her creative partner and appeared in with her friend the talented actress—would already know that she holds plenty to discuss, be it about identity, sex, or the merits of creating a high-school combat group. And, once you finish her new eight-part show titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star has additional perspectives on the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott is a bridge for this generation, on the cusp skilled for bridging both generations).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress admits to being a fan, citing the show together with the classic series, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which details the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and aspiring representative portrayed by Sennott. However, the most significant spot on concept belonged to the HBO series, that show about a rising celebrity making his way in a gritty LA scene (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it throughout the pandemic, became “captivated”, and chose to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The concept for this project came—partly—from personal, at first rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a popular occurrence for astrology heads. That period marked an era that saw her learn some big insights, professionally and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Brought up in Connecticut, the star began creating and acting stand-up while studying theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She decided to act independently, taking the stage at amateur nights with her friend and sharing hysterical (and distinctly) unconventional comedy videos online. One, titled Baby Cult, followed characters fetishistically obsessed with motherhood; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being stuck in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her path, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, as opposed to the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, stating with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Anyone who questioned regarding her then will certainly be feeling foolish currently. In what she calls a “incredibly circular” development, she has manifested the perfect project. Previously she uploaded a video called “it’s LA” online, in which she mocked movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a comedy about city dwellers juggling benefits of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being suspected of being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). It would be easy to make a series about internet celebrity that was horribly glamorous—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. This show avoids both, making for a depiction of affluent twentysomething life that’s honest about the mess and the glamour.
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 observes. “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
