The actress and writer exploring the uproarious series portraying the messy appeal of Gen Z existence
The star appears on the video call and immediately begins an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, seeming really regretful. She is only slightly delayed, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, during an interview, this is exactly what you want to hear. Moreover, it’s quite predictable. Anyone who know the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—which Sennott penned with her creative partner and starred in together with collaborator the talented actress—can already know that Sennott possesses a lot to discuss, whether about identity, relationships, or the appeal of creating a high-school combat group. Furthermore, once you finish the new eight-part HBO series I Love LA, viewers realize that she has even more thoughts regarding the challenges of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp with a knack for bridging different age groups).
Influences and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress admits to being a fan, citing it together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for the project, which tracks the struggles of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and aspiring representative Maia. Notably, the most significant spot on the moodboard went to Entourage, the HBO sitcom focusing on an emerging celebrity succeeding in a corrupt Hollywood (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it amid COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and decided to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The inspiration for the series came—in part—from firsthand, originally fractious, move to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about phenomenon for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that included her learn major insights, in her career and individually. “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.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced writing and performing stand-up while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “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, taking the stage at amateur nights with Ayo and uploading uproarious (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos digitally. One, Baby Cult, followed several females obsessively fixated on motherhood; another imagined working at a trendy retail outlet as like being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually appearing in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a funeral gathering with hints of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her journey, she notes, has been peers supporting her, rather than established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, continuing with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who had doubts about her earlier will likely be kicking themselves today. Through she describes as a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. Previously she uploaded a video titled “it’s LA” online, in which she lampooned film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a series about city dwellers managing the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being accused of being a drug-addled thief, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be easy to make a show about internet celebrity that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. The series steers clear of each, making for a representation of advantaged twentysomething living that’s frank about the grot and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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
