The star appears on the digital interview and right away begins an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, sounding really remorseful. Despite being only a bit delayed, she needs to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is precisely what is ideal to experience. Additionally, it’s quite unsurprising. Anyone familiar with the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and brash film Bottoms—that she collaborated on with her creative partner and featured in alongside her friend the talented actress—can understand that Sennott holds a lot to discuss, be it about identity, relationships, or the pros of creating a high-school brawl society. Plus, by the end the new multi-episode program titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star has further thoughts about the challenges of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott serves as an honorary member of the gang, a tale-end millennial skilled for connecting both generations).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, naming the show in addition to the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for her series, which follows the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also aspiring agent Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the most significant spot on the moodboard went to the HBO series, the show depicting a rising A-list actor succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it throughout the pandemic, became “captivated”, and decided to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The idea for I Love LA came—in part—from her own, originally difficult, move to LA and from the saturn return, a popular occurrence for astrology heads. That period marked an era that involved her understand some big truths, professionally and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “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
Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott started writing and performing comedy while pursuing theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. 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 seized control, taking the stage at open mics with her friend and uploading hysterical (and very) unconventional skits on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely drawn to motherhood; a different one imagined working at the brand Hollister as similar to being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and ended up starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the intense thriller. The central motif of her journey, she explains, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Individuals who were skeptical about her previously will surely be feeling foolish now. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” story, she has created her dream vehicle. Previously she shared a clip named on LA life on the internet, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a series about LA residents balancing the perks of internet fame (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being accused of being a intoxicated stealer, and possibly becoming a risky pariah). Some could simple to make a series about digital influence that was overly idealized—or, more problematic, one that punched down at its subjects. This show steers clear of each, making for a portrait of privileged twentysomething living that’s candid about the mess and the glamour.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
