The actress and writer discussing the uproarious series about the grotty allure of younger generation lifestyle
The star enters the video call and right away starts an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, appearing genuinely apologetic. Despite being only slightly behind, she needs to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is just what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s fairly expected. Anyone who know the fearlessly queer and outspoken film titled Bottoms—which she penned with Emma Seligman and featured in with collaborator the talented actress—will already know that Sennott possesses a lot to discuss, whether on gender, relationships, or the pros of creating a teen combat group. Plus, by the end the latest eight-part show I Love LA, it is clear that she carries even more thoughts regarding the darker side of modern youth (As a millennial, she serves as a relatable figure for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
Parallels to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott is enthusiastic, naming it together with the classic series, Insecure and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which follows the struggles of online personality Tallulah and close companion and aspiring talent manager Maia. However, the biggest spot on creative vision was reserved for Entourage, the show about a rising Hollywood star navigating in an often-seedy LA scene (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it during lockdown, became “captivated”, and decided to create a new version 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 says. The concept for this project came—in part—from personal, at first fractious, relocation to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about occurrence for enthusiasts. That period marked a phase that involved her grasp major life lessons, in her career and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Humble Origins
Raised in the East Coast, the star started developing and showcasing comedy while studying performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “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. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
She seized control, performing at open mics with her friend and sharing uproarious (and decidedly) bizarre comedy videos online. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically obsessed with having babies; a different one portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through campus film circles and eventually featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a religious event with hints of the intense thriller. The central motif of her journey, she explains, has been people her own age giving her a shot, instead of the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she repeats, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Rising Success
Anyone who were skeptical about her then will likely be feeling foolish now. Through she calls a “astonishingly complete” turn of events, she seems to have created her dream vehicle. Previously she shared content titled “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she mocked movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a series about LA residents managing advantages of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing stealer, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). One might simple to create a show about online fame that was overly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. The series does neither, resulting in a representation of affluent millennial existence that’s frank about the grot and the appeal.
Nuanced Portrayal
“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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