The actress and writer on the side-splitting comedy about that chaotic glamour of today's youth existence
The performer enters the online meeting and at once begins an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, appearing genuinely regretful. Although she's only slightly delayed, 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. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone who have seen her unapologetically queer and brash film Bottoms—that she co-wrote with her creative partner and appeared in alongside her friend the talented actress—can already know that she has a lot to discuss, ranging from on roles, intimacy, or the pros of creating a teen fight club. Plus, after watching her new multi-episode program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds further perspectives regarding the darker side of Gen Z life (At 30, she serves as a bridge of the gang, straddling eras with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and the actress admits to being an admirer, naming it alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as inspirations for her series, which follows the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and her friend who is also fledgling agent Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the most significant influence on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, that show depicting a rising celebrity navigating in a gritty entertainment industry (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She started watching it amid COVID-19, became “hooked”, and resolved to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The concept for the series came—to some extent—from firsthand, at first difficult, move to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. It was a time that saw her grasp some big truths, in her career and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott started writing and performing humor while enrolled in acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She decided to act independently, appearing at amateur nights with Edebiri and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) unconventional online content digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on several females fetishistically obsessed with pregnancy; a different one portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her journey, she says, has been peers giving her a shot, instead of established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, adding humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Career Breakthrough
Those who questioned regarding her earlier will likely be regretting it today. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” development, she has achieved the perfect project. A few years back she shared content called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a series about city dwellers juggling the perks of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your client being accused of being a substance-abusing criminal, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). One might easy to create a series about digital influence that was horribly idealized—or, worse, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA steers clear of each, creating a depiction of advantaged young adult life that’s frank about the grot and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
