The actress and writer on the uproarious comedy about that grotty appeal of today's youth existence
The star joins the digital interview and at once launches into an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, appearing genuinely remorseful. She is only a bit behind, she needs to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is just what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Anyone who know the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and brash project Bottoms—that she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and featured in with close companion Ayo Edebiri—can already know that Sennott has plenty to say, whether about identity, relationships, or the merits of forming a youth combat group. Plus, by the end the latest eight-part program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries even more insights about the darker side of modern youth (As a millennial, Sennott is an honorary member of the gang, straddling eras skilled for bridging both generations).
Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress is an admirer, referencing it together with the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as influences for her series, which tracks the travails of a social media star Tallulah and her friend who is also aspiring representative Sennott’s character. However, the most significant spot on concept belonged to the popular sitcom, the HBO sitcom focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it during lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The inspiration for I Love LA emerged—partly—from her own, initially rocky, move to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed occurrence for followers. That period marked a time that involved her understand significant truths, work-wise and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Starting Out
Growing up in New England, the star started writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in performance at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”
Sennott seized control, appearing at amateur nights with Edebiri and sharing hysterical (and distinctly) unconventional skits online. One, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women fetishistically fixated on motherhood; a different one portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being stuck in a scary movie. Interestingly, she met Emma through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a religious event with shades of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her journey, she notes, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, instead of established gatekeepers. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who had doubts about Sennott earlier will likely be feeling foolish today. As part of she describes as a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she seems to have created the perfect project. Previously she shared a clip titled on LA life on social media, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a show about city dwellers managing the perks of internet fame (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being labeled as being a intoxicated criminal, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). It would be tempting to create a program about online fame that was extremely aspirational—or, more problematic, one that mocked at those depicted. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a portrait of affluent young adult life that’s frank about the chaos and the appeal.
Balanced Perspective
“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