The actress and writer on the hilarious show depicting that messy allure of today's youth existence
The performer enters the online meeting and at once starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, sounding truly apologetic. Despite being only slightly behind, she wants to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s precisely what you want to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty unsurprising. Anyone who know the boldly queer and brash project titled Bottoms—which she co-wrote with the director and appeared in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—can understand that she possesses much to share, ranging from on identity, relationships, or the appeal of creating a teen brawl society. And, once you finish the new eight-part show I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds even more perspectives on the darker side of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she is an honorary member of the gang, on the cusp adept for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott is enthusiastic, citing it in addition to Sex and the City, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for her series, which follows the journey of online personality Tallulah and close companion who is also new talent manager Maia. However, the most significant spot on concept went to the HBO series, that show about a rising celebrity navigating in a corrupt Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it amid the pandemic, became “captivated”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective 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 explains. The inspiration for the series came—to some extent—from firsthand, at first rocky, move to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a popular phenomenon for astrology heads. This represented a phase that saw her grasp major truths, in her career and in private life. “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 was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott started creating and acting comedy while studying performance at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at amateur nights with Ayo and posting hysterical (and very) bizarre skits digitally. One, Baby Cult, depicted several females obsessively obsessed with motherhood; a different one portrayed being employed at the brand Hollister as akin to being caught in a scary movie. Interestingly, she met Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up starring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her path, she notes, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, rather than traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, adding with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Those who had doubts regarding Sennott earlier will likely be regretting it today. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” story, she has created an ideal role. In 2019 she posted content titled about Los Angeles online, in which she lampooned film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a show about Angelenos balancing advantages of digital stardom (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being suspected of being a substance-abusing criminal, and possibly becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be simple to produce a program about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a depiction of privileged young adult existence that’s honest about the grot and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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
