The actress and writer discussing the uproarious comedy depicting the messy appeal of Gen Z existence

The star joins the digital interview and right away begins an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, appearing genuinely regretful. Although she's only a bit behind, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is exactly what is ideal to hear. Additionally, it’s fairly predictable. Those familiar with her boldly LGBTQ+ and brash film titled Bottoms—which she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and starred in with collaborator the talented actress—can be aware that she has plenty to discuss, whether on gender, intimacy, or the pros of creating a youth brawl society. Furthermore, once you finish her latest eight-part show I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds even more perspectives about the darker side of Gen Z life (At 30, she serves as a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp skilled for bridging millennials and Gen Z).

Influences and Creative Vision

Likenesses to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott is a fan, referencing the show together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for the project, which tracks the struggles of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and fledgling representative Maia. Perhaps, the biggest spot on concept belonged to the HBO series, that program about an up-and-coming celebrity navigating in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it throughout COVID-19, became “hooked”, and chose to put her own twist 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 notes. The inspiration for the series came—partly—from personal, originally fractious, relocation to LA and from the astrological phase, a much-talked-about event for followers. This represented an era that involved her learn some big truths, professionally and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Early Beginnings

Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott started creating and acting comedy while studying performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

Sennott seized control, appearing at open mics with Edebiri and uploading hilarious (and distinctly) weird skits digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on a group of women fetishistically obsessed with motherhood; a different one imagined being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being trapped in a thriller. Interestingly, she met Seligman through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her path, she notes, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, instead of the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, adding with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”

Manifesting Dreams

Those who questioned about her then will certainly be regretting it now. Through she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have created her dream vehicle. Previously she posted a video called on LA life on social media, in which she mocked film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a show about Angelenos balancing the perks of digital stardom (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated criminal, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). It would be tempting to create a show about online fame that was horribly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, resulting in a depiction of privileged twentysomething existence that’s frank about the grot and the appeal.

Empathetic Approach

“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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

Beth Little
Beth Little

A creative director with over a decade of experience in print media and digital design, passionate about helping brands tell their stories.