The performer joins the video call and at once starts an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, appearing really apologetic. She is only a couple of minutes behind, she wants to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, for a writer, this is precisely what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone who have seen the fearlessly queer and outspoken project titled Bottoms—which she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in together with her friend the talented actress—would already know that Sennott possesses a lot to say, be it on identity, relationships, or the pros of creating a teen combat group. And, once you finish the new eight-part show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star carries additional perspectives on the struggles of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she represents a bridge to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial skilled for straddling both generations).
Inspirations and Artistic Direction
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott admits to being an admirer, referencing the show together with the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as guides for her series, which details the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also aspiring talent manager Maia. Perhaps, the biggest presence on the moodboard was reserved for Entourage, the program depicting an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it amid COVID-19, became “hooked”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The idea for I Love LA emerged—partly—from personal, initially rocky, transition to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about occurrence for followers. This represented a time that saw her learn major insights, work-wise and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Raised in Connecticut, Sennott commenced writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with Ayo and posting hysterical (and distinctly) weird comedy videos digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed a group of women intensely fixated on motherhood; a different one imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being trapped in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a religious event with hints of the intense thriller. The big theme of her path, she explains, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, continuing amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who were skeptical about Sennott then will certainly be feeling foolish today. In what she calls a “wild, full-circle” development, she seems to have achieved the perfect project. A few years back she uploaded a video called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she mocked film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a series about LA residents juggling benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a unreliable pariah). Some could tempting to make a series about digital influence that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at the characters. This show steers clear of each, making for a representation of privileged millennial living that’s frank about the mess and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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
