The actress and writer discussing her side-splitting comedy about the messy allure of Gen Z existence
The star joins the video call and right away starts an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, sounding genuinely remorseful. Despite being only slightly delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s just what is ideal to experience. Additionally, it’s quite expected. Those who have seen the boldly queer and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—which she co-wrote with the director and appeared in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—will understand that she has a lot to discuss, ranging from on roles, sex, or the appeal of creating a youth brawl society. And, once you finish her latest multi-episode program titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds further insights regarding the challenges of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott is a relatable figure to younger audiences, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting both generations).
Guiding Lights and Creative Vision
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, referencing the show alongside Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and ally and aspiring representative Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the biggest influence on the moodboard belonged to Entourage, that program depicting an emerging Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty entertainment industry (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it during COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and chose to put her own twist on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The idea for the series came—to some extent—from personal, originally difficult, relocation to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed event for enthusiasts. This represented a time that saw her grasp major insights, professionally and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”
Early Beginnings
Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott started creating and acting comedy while pursuing performance at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott seized control, performing at live shows with Edebiri and sharing hysterical (and decidedly) bizarre comedy videos digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters obsessively fixated on having babies; another portrayed working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through the university’s film scene and ended up featuring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, instead of traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, adding humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Those who were skeptical regarding her previously will surely be regretting it today. Through she labels a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she has manifested her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted content called on LA life on social media, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a comedy about Angelenos managing benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and possibly becoming a risky persona non grata). Some could easy to produce a series about online fame that was extremely aspirational—or, worse, one that belittled at its subjects. The series avoids both, resulting in a depiction of privileged twentysomething living that’s frank about the mess and the glamour.
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