The performer joins the digital interview and right away starts an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, appearing truly remorseful. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, she needs to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, for a writer, that’s exactly what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s quite expected. Viewers familiar with her unapologetically openly gay and brash project Bottoms—which she penned with the director and featured in alongside close companion The Bear’s standout—would understand that she possesses plenty to share, be it on roles, relationships, or the appeal of creating a youth brawl society. And, by the end her new eight-part show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star holds further thoughts on the darker side of modern youth (As a millennial, she represents a bridge of the gang, a tale-end millennial skilled for straddling different age groups).
Inspirations and Storytelling Approach
Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress admits to being a fan, referencing the show in addition to Sex and the City, Insecure and the innovative program as inspirations for the project, which follows the travails of an influencer Tallulah and ally who is also new agent Maia. Perhaps, the most significant influence on the moodboard went to Entourage, the show focusing on a rising Hollywood star navigating in a corrupt LA scene (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose to create a new version 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—partly—from her own, initially difficult, transition to LA and from the saturn return, a popular phenomenon for astrology heads. It was a time that involved her understand significant life lessons, work-wise and personally. “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. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Humble Origins
Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott began writing and performing stand-up while studying performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “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 took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with Ayo and sharing hilarious (and distinctly) weird comedy videos online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters obsessively drawn to pregnancy; a different one imagined being employed at a trendy retail outlet as like being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a Jewish wake with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her journey, she notes, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, as opposed to the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, continuing with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Manifesting Dreams
Anyone who were skeptical about her then will certainly be feeling foolish currently. As part of she calls a “incredibly circular” development, she seems to have achieved the perfect project. A few years back she shared a clip titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she mocked film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a comedy about city dwellers managing benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being accused of being a intoxicated stealer, and possibly becoming a risky outcast). One might tempting to make a program about online fame that was horribly glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at those depicted. This show avoids both, making for a depiction of privileged millennial life that’s candid about the chaos and the shine.
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
