The star enters the video call and immediately starts an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, seeming truly remorseful. Although she's only slightly 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!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s exactly what is ideal to experience. Moreover, it’s quite unsurprising. Viewers familiar with her boldly LGBTQ+ and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with her creative partner and appeared in alongside collaborator the talented actress—would understand that Sennott holds much to share, be it about gender, sex, or the pros of creating a youth brawl society. Furthermore, once you finish her new multi-episode program I Love LA, it is clear that she has even more thoughts regarding the darker side of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents an honorary member to younger audiences, straddling eras with a knack for connecting different age groups).
Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott is enthusiastic, citing it together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as guides for the project, which details the travails of a social media star Tallulah and ally and fledgling representative portrayed by Sennott. However, the biggest influence on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, that show depicting an up-and-coming celebrity succeeding in a corrupt LA scene (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it throughout COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and resolved 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 notes. The concept for the series emerged—to some extent—from her own, originally difficult, relocation to LA and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed phenomenon for enthusiasts. This represented a time that involved her understand significant life lessons, professionally and personally. “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…”
Humble Origins
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott started creating and acting comedy while enrolled in performance at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. 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, taking the stage at amateur nights with Edebiri and sharing hilarious (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos online. One, Baby Cult, followed several females fetishistically drawn to having babies; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being caught in a horror film. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a religious event with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she says, has been people her own age giving her a shot, rather than the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, adding humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Individuals who had doubts regarding her previously will certainly be feeling foolish today. In what she labels a “wild, full-circle” development, she has created an ideal role. A few years back she shared content named on LA life on social media, in which she mocked film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a series about city dwellers balancing benefits of internet fame (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and perhaps becoming a risky outcast). One might tempting to make a program about internet celebrity that was overly aspirational—or, worse, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA avoids both, creating a depiction of advantaged young adult existence that’s candid about the grot and the appeal.
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
