The performer enters the online meeting and right away begins an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, sounding genuinely remorseful. Despite being only a bit late, 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!” Luckily, in this context, that’s exactly what you want to hear. Additionally, it’s fairly predictable. Those familiar with the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and outspoken film Bottoms—that Sennott penned with the director and featured in alongside her friend the talented actress—will already know that she holds much to share, whether about roles, relationships, or the merits of creating a youth combat group. And, by the end the new multi-episode HBO series titled I Love LA, it is clear that she holds even more insights regarding the challenges of Gen Z life (At 30, she serves as a bridge for this generation, straddling eras adept for straddling both generations).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, naming it alongside Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as influences for I Love LA, which details the journey of online personality Tallulah and her friend and fledgling agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the most significant presence on concept was reserved for the popular sitcom, the show about an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty entertainment industry (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it throughout the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and resolved to create a new version 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 notes. The concept for I Love LA emerged—partly—from personal, initially rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from the cosmic event, a popular phenomenon for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that involved her learn significant insights, professionally and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Raised in New England, the star commenced creating and acting humor while enrolled in theatre 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. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She took matters into her own hands, appearing at live shows with Ayo and uploading uproarious (and decidedly) unconventional online content digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted a group of women obsessively obsessed with pregnancy; a different one envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as like being trapped in a scary movie. By chance, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and eventually featuring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her career, she explains, has been peers supporting her, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, continuing amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”
Manifesting Dreams
Individuals who had doubts about Sennott earlier will likely be regretting it today. As part of she calls a “astonishingly complete” story, she appears to achieved an ideal role. Previously she posted a video called on LA life online, in which she parodied film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a series about city dwellers managing the perks of online celebrity (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your associate being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). Some could tempting to create a show about online fame that was extremely idealized—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at the characters. This show avoids both, creating a portrait of privileged young adult living that’s candid 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 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
