The actress and writer on her hilarious series portraying that grotty allure of younger generation life
The performer appears on the digital interview and immediately begins an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, sounding truly remorseful. She is only a couple of minutes late, she wants to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s exactly what is ideal to experience. Additionally, it’s fairly expected. Anyone who have seen her unapologetically queer and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—that she penned with Emma Seligman and appeared in alongside her friend The Bear’s standout—can already know that she holds plenty to say, whether on roles, sex, or the pros of forming a high-school fight club. And, by the end her latest seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds additional thoughts on the struggles of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she serves as an honorary member of the gang, straddling eras skilled for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, referencing it alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as influences for her series, which follows the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also new talent manager Maia. Notably, the largest presence on concept belonged to Entourage, that program depicting an up-and-coming A-list actor making his way in an often-seedy Hollywood (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it during the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and decided to create a new version 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 notes. The concept for I Love LA emerged—partly—from personal, initially fractious, relocation to LA and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed occurrence for followers. This represented a time that saw her grasp significant life lessons, in her career and individually. “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. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott commenced creating and acting stand-up while enrolled in performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, performing at open mics with Ayo and uploading uproarious (and distinctly) weird skits online. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on several females fetishistically fixated on pregnancy; another imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as like being caught in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her journey, she explains, has been people her own age supporting her, rather than the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, continuing humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who were skeptical about her then will certainly be kicking themselves today. As part of she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she has manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded a clip called about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about Angelenos managing the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated thief, and perhaps becoming a risky pariah). It would be easy to make a series about online fame that was overly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at its subjects. This show steers clear of each, creating a representation of advantaged young adult living that’s honest about the grot and the appeal.
Empathetic Approach
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
