The star appears on the video call and right away starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, sounding really regretful. Despite being only a bit delayed, she feels compelled to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s just what you want to hear. Moreover, it’s quite predictable. Those who know her unapologetically queer and outspoken movie Bottoms—that Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and starred in together with close companion Ayo Edebiri—can be aware that she holds plenty to discuss, ranging from about roles, intimacy, or the pros of starting a high-school fight club. Furthermore, after watching the new eight-part show I Love LA, it is clear that she carries additional insights regarding the struggles of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she represents a bridge for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling both generations).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges enthusiastic, citing it alongside Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for her series, which details the travails of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and aspiring talent manager Maia. However, the largest presence on the moodboard belonged to Entourage, that show focusing on a rising A-list actor making his way in an often-seedy LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it amid the pandemic, became “captivated”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The inspiration for I Love LA originated—partly—from her own, initially fractious, relocation to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for followers. It was a time that included her learn some big life lessons, work-wise and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott started writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in theatre at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She decided to act independently, appearing at open mics with Edebiri and uploading hilarious (and very) weird comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted characters intensely drawn to pregnancy; another envisioned being employed at the brand Hollister as akin to being trapped in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through campus film circles and eventually starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her path, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, rather than traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, continuing humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Individuals who had doubts regarding her previously will likely be kicking themselves today. As part of she describes as a “incredibly circular” development, she appears to achieved an ideal role. A few years back she posted a clip called on LA life online, in which she mocked film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a show about Angelenos balancing the perks of internet fame (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your client being accused of being a substance-abusing stealer, and possibly becoming a risky pariah). One might easy to create a series about internet celebrity that was overly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that punched down at those depicted. The series avoids both, creating a depiction of privileged young adult living that’s candid 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 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
