The actress and writer on her uproarious show depicting the grotty glamour of Gen Z life
The star joins the digital interview and at once starts an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming genuinely apologetic. Despite being only slightly delayed, she needs to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s exactly what one hopes to encounter. Additionally, it’s quite expected. Viewers who know her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and brash movie Bottoms—which she co-wrote with the director and appeared in alongside her friend The Bear’s standout—would be aware that Sennott possesses plenty to say, be it about identity, intimacy, or the appeal of forming a youth combat group. And, once you finish the new seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star holds even more thoughts on the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she is a bridge to younger audiences, on the cusp skilled for bridging millennials and Gen Z).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges enthusiastic, referencing the show alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and the innovative program as guides for her series, which details the struggles of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and ally who is also aspiring talent manager Maia. However, the largest spot on the moodboard went to the HBO series, the HBO sitcom focusing on an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in a corrupt LA scene (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She started watching it amid COVID-19, became “captivated”, and decided to create a new version 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 says. The concept for the series emerged—to some extent—from personal, originally difficult, move to LA and from the astrological phase, a popular phenomenon for enthusiasts. That period marked an era that saw her learn major insights, professionally and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Early Beginnings
Growing up in Connecticut, the star started developing and showcasing stand-up while enrolled in acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”
Sennott seized control, appearing at live shows with Edebiri and sharing hilarious (and decidedly) unconventional online content digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted several females intensely fixated on pregnancy; a different one imagined working at the brand Hollister as akin to being trapped in a scary movie. Interestingly, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been peers giving her a shot, as opposed to traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, adding humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”
Rising Success
Anyone who questioned about Sennott earlier will certainly be regretting it now. As part of she describes as a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she shared a video called “it’s LA” online, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a show about Angelenos managing advantages of internet fame (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). One might tempting to make a program about digital influence that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that mocked at those depicted. I Love LA does neither, making for a representation of privileged millennial living that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.
Nuanced Portrayal
“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
