🔗 Share this article

The performer appears on the online meeting and at once starts an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, seeming really remorseful. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, she feels compelled 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!” Fortunately, during an interview, that’s just what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s fairly predictable. Anyone who know her fearlessly LGBTQ+ and outspoken project Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with her creative partner and appeared in alongside her friend the talented actress—would understand that Sennott has much to share, whether about gender, relationships, or the merits of creating a youth combat group. Furthermore, by the end the recent eight-part show titled I Love LA, it is clear that she has additional perspectives on the darker side of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, she is an honorary member of the gang, a tale-end millennial skilled for straddling different age groups).

Influences and Artistic Direction

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, citing the show together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as inspirations for her series, which follows the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and ally and new agent portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the largest presence on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, the program focusing on a rising Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty entertainment industry (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott started watching it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and resolved 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 says. The idea for I Love LA came—in part—from personal, originally fractious, transition to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a popular occurrence for followers. It was an era that saw her learn significant life lessons, in her career and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “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…”

Early Beginnings

Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced writing and performing stand-up while pursuing theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

Sennott seized control, performing at amateur nights with Ayo and posting hysterical (and very) weird skits digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed several females obsessively fixated on pregnancy; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being caught in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and ended up featuring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a religious event with hints of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her career, she notes, has been peers supporting her, as opposed to traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, adding amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”

Manifesting Dreams

Anyone who questioned about Sennott then will likely be feeling foolish today. As part of she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she has manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she shared a video titled on LA life on social media, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a series about LA residents balancing benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). It would be tempting to produce a series about online fame that was extremely glamorous—or, more problematic, one that belittled at the characters. This show does neither, creating a portrait of privileged young adult existence that’s frank about the grot and the shine.

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 says. “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