The actress and writer exploring her uproarious show about that grotty appeal of younger generation existence
The star appears on the video call and immediately begins an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, sounding genuinely regretful. Despite being only a bit delayed, she wants to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is just what is ideal to experience. Additionally, it’s fairly expected. Viewers familiar with the fearlessly queer and brash movie Bottoms—that she co-wrote with the director and featured in with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would understand that Sennott has a lot to say, be it on identity, sex, or the pros of forming a high-school fight club. Furthermore, after watching the latest seasonal program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds even more thoughts regarding the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott represents an honorary member for this generation, straddling eras skilled for bridging different age groups).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott admits to being an admirer, citing the show in addition to the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as guides for the project, which tracks the journey of a social media star Tallulah and ally and fledgling talent manager Sennott’s character. However, the most significant spot on concept went to the HBO series, the program about a rising celebrity making his way in a corrupt entertainment industry (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott started watching it during lockdown, became “captivated”, and decided to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.
“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The idea for I Love LA came—in part—from personal, originally fractious, transition to Tinseltown and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed occurrence for enthusiasts. It was a phase that saw her learn significant life lessons, work-wise and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in Connecticut, the star began writing and performing comedy while enrolled in performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
Sennott took matters into her own hands, appearing at open mics with her friend and posting uproarious (and decidedly) weird skits online. One, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women intensely obsessed with having babies; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being stuck in a horror film. By chance, she connected with Seligman through the university’s film scene and ended up featuring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she explains, has been people her own age giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she emphasizes, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”
Rising Success
Individuals who were skeptical regarding her earlier will likely be kicking themselves today. In what she calls a “astonishingly complete” story, she appears to created her dream vehicle. A few years back she uploaded a video named on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a series about LA residents balancing advantages of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being labeled as being a drug-addled thief, and perhaps becoming a risky outcast). It would be simple to make a program about online fame that was overly idealized—or, worse, one that mocked at its subjects. The series steers clear of each, making for a depiction of advantaged millennial life that’s honest about the mess and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” she says. “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
