The comedic talent discussing her uproarious show depicting that chaotic allure of Gen Z life
The performer joins the video call and immediately begins an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, seeming really regretful. She is only a couple of minutes delayed, she feels compelled to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s precisely what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s pretty expected. Anyone who know the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken movie Bottoms—which Sennott penned with the director and appeared in alongside close companion The Bear’s standout—will already know that she holds plenty to share, be it about roles, sex, or the merits of forming a high-school combat group. And, by the end the latest multi-episode program I Love LA, it is clear that she has additional insights on the challenges of modern youth (At 30, she serves as an honorary member for this generation, a tale-end millennial adept for bridging different age groups).
Inspirations and Creative Vision
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being a fan, naming the show together with the HBO hit, Insecure and Atlanta as guides for I Love LA, which tracks the journey of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and fledgling agent portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the biggest spot on concept belonged to Entourage, that program depicting an up-and-coming A-list actor succeeding in a corrupt entertainment industry (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it during lockdown, became “captivated”, and decided to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The concept for I Love LA originated—to some extent—from her own, originally fractious, transition to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a popular occurrence for enthusiasts. It was a time that involved her grasp some big truths, in her career and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Brought up in New England, Sennott began writing and performing humor while enrolled in theatre at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
She seized control, performing at live shows with Ayo and sharing hilarious (and distinctly) weird online content on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed a group of women intensely obsessed with pregnancy; a different one portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being stuck in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her career, she says, has been contemporaries supporting her, instead of the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she repeats, stating humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who were skeptical about her earlier will likely be regretting it currently. In what she describes as a “wild, full-circle” development, she seems to have achieved an ideal role. In 2019 she posted a video called on LA life on the internet, in which she mocked movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about LA residents juggling benefits of internet fame (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled stealer, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be simple to produce a show about digital influence that was overly idealized—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA does neither, creating a representation of affluent twentysomething life that’s honest about the mess and the appeal.
Empathetic Approach
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” she comments. “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