The comedic talent on the uproarious series about the chaotic appeal of today's youth lifestyle
The star enters the online meeting and right away starts an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, sounding truly regretful. She is only a couple of minutes delayed, she feels compelled to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, in this context, that’s just what one hopes to encounter. Additionally, it’s quite predictable. Those who know the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and brash film Bottoms—that she collaborated on with the director and featured in with her friend Ayo Edebiri—can already know that Sennott holds much to share, be it about gender, relationships, or the appeal of starting a high-school combat group. Plus, once you finish her latest eight-part show I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has even more insights regarding the struggles of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she serves as an honorary member of the gang, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting both generations).
Influences and Creative Vision
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being an admirer, naming it alongside the classic series, Insecure and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and aspiring representative Maia. Perhaps, the most significant spot on the moodboard went to the HBO series, the show about a rising Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it amid lockdown, became “obsessed”, and decided to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The inspiration for I Love LA emerged—in part—from personal, at first difficult, relocation to Tinseltown and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for astrology heads. It was an era that saw her grasp significant truths, in her career and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott started writing and performing stand-up while pursuing performance at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, performing at amateur nights with Ayo and sharing hysterical (and distinctly) weird online content digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women fetishistically obsessed with motherhood; a different one portrayed working at the brand Hollister as like being trapped in a scary movie. By chance, she encountered Seligman through campus film circles and ultimately starring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a religious event with hints of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, instead of traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who were skeptical about Sennott then will likely be kicking themselves now. Through she calls a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she has achieved her dream vehicle. Previously she shared a video titled on LA life on social media, in which she lampooned movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about city dwellers juggling benefits of internet fame (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being suspected of being a drug-addled thief, and potentially becoming a unreliable persona non grata). One might simple to create a series about internet celebrity that was extremely idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at its subjects. The series does neither, resulting in a representation of advantaged millennial life that’s honest about the chaos and the shine.
Empathetic Approach
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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