The performer enters the online meeting and right away launches into an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, appearing really remorseful. She is only slightly behind, she feels compelled to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is precisely what you want to encounter. Besides, it’s fairly unsurprising. Those who have seen the fearlessly queer and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with her creative partner and starred in together with collaborator The Bear’s standout—can understand that Sennott possesses a lot to discuss, ranging from about identity, intimacy, or the pros of creating a high-school fight club. Plus, once you finish her latest eight-part show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries further thoughts about the darker side of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she is an honorary member for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott readily acknowledges enthusiastic, referencing the show alongside the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as guides for her series, which details the journey of an influencer Tallulah and ally and new talent manager portrayed by Sennott. However, the largest influence on the moodboard went to the HBO series, that HBO sitcom depicting an up-and-coming celebrity succeeding in an often-seedy entertainment industry (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it amid lockdown, became “hooked”, and resolved to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The inspiration for I Love LA emerged—to some extent—from her own, originally fractious, move to LA and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about event for enthusiasts. This represented a time that saw her learn significant life lessons, 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 …”
Starting Out
Raised in the East Coast, Sennott began creating and acting comedy while pursuing performance at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “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, appearing at amateur nights with Ayo and uploading hysterical (and very) weird online content online. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed several females obsessively fixated on motherhood; a different one portrayed working at the brand Hollister as akin to being trapped in a scary movie. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and ultimately starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her path, she explains, has been peers offering opportunities, rather than the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, stating with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who were skeptical about her earlier will surely be regretting it now. As part of she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she appears to achieved an ideal role. A few years back she posted a video named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a series about Angelenos managing advantages of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing stealer, and potentially becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be easy to create a program about digital influence that was horribly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. I Love LA steers clear of each, resulting in a portrait of affluent young adult existence that’s candid about the mess and the shine.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
