The actress and writer on the uproarious comedy portraying the grotty allure of Gen Z lifestyle
The star enters the online meeting and right away begins an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, sounding really remorseful. She is only a couple of minutes late, she wants to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, for a writer, this is precisely what is ideal to experience. Moreover, it’s pretty expected. Anyone who know her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken film Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with her creative partner and starred in alongside close companion the talented actress—would be aware that Sennott has a lot to share, whether about gender, sex, or the appeal of forming a high-school combat group. Furthermore, by the end the recent multi-episode show I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds further thoughts regarding the challenges of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a relatable figure to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling both generations).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, referencing the show in addition to the HBO hit, Insecure and Atlanta as influences for the project, which tracks the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also new representative Maia. However, the most significant presence on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, the show about an emerging A-list actor succeeding in an often-seedy entertainment industry (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it amid the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The concept for this project emerged—partly—from her own, originally difficult, relocation to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a popular phenomenon for followers. It was an era that included her learn major truths, professionally and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Growing up in New England, the star started developing and showcasing humor while pursuing theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “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?”
She took matters into her own hands, appearing at amateur nights with Edebiri and sharing hilarious (and very) weird skits online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted characters obsessively obsessed with motherhood; a different one envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as like being caught in a scary movie. Interestingly, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and eventually starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the intense thriller. The big theme of her path, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, rather than traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she repeats, adding humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who were skeptical regarding her then will surely be kicking themselves now. Through she describes as a “astonishingly complete” development, she has manifested her dream vehicle. Previously she posted content named on LA life on social media, in which she mocked movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about LA residents managing benefits of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your client being labeled as being a intoxicated criminal, and potentially becoming a risky outcast). Some could simple to produce a show about online fame that was overly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA avoids both, creating a representation of affluent young adult existence that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
