The performer enters the online meeting and at once begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, seeming genuinely remorseful. Although she's only a couple of minutes behind, she needs to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s just what you want to hear. Besides, it’s fairly predictable. Anyone who have seen her boldly LGBTQ+ and brash film titled Bottoms—which she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and starred in with collaborator The Bear’s standout—will already know that she has a lot to discuss, ranging from on identity, intimacy, or the appeal of starting a youth fight club. Furthermore, after watching her new eight-part show titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds further insights regarding the struggles of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she represents a relatable figure for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for bridging different age groups).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Parallels to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress admits to being a fan, referencing the show alongside the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as guides for her series, which follows the journey of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and new representative Maia. However, the biggest influence on the moodboard went to the HBO series, that program focusing on a rising Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty LA scene (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it amid lockdown, became “obsessed”, and resolved to put her own twist 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 explains. The concept for I Love LA originated—to some extent—from personal, initially fractious, relocation to Tinseltown and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed occurrence for followers. This represented an era that included her grasp significant insights, professionally and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Humble Origins
Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott began writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” 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?”
Sennott decided to act independently, performing at live shows with Ayo and uploading uproarious (and very) weird skits digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on several females obsessively obsessed with having babies; another imagined working at the brand Hollister as like being trapped in a horror film. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her career, she explains, has been people her own age offering opportunities, instead of the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Those who had doubts about Sennott then will likely be feeling foolish currently. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” development, she appears to achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she shared a clip called about Los Angeles online, in which she mocked film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a series about city dwellers balancing benefits of internet fame (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled thief, and potentially becoming a risky pariah). One might easy to make a program about digital influence that was extremely idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. The series avoids both, creating a portrait of advantaged young adult living that’s frank about the grot and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
