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The star appears on the video call and at once starts an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, appearing truly regretful. Although she's only a couple of minutes behind, she needs to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, for a writer, this is precisely what one hopes to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Viewers familiar with the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—which she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in with her friend the talented actress—would understand that Sennott has plenty to share, ranging from on identity, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a youth brawl society. Plus, after watching her new multi-episode HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she has even more thoughts about the challenges of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as an honorary member of the gang, a tale-end millennial skilled for bridging different age groups).

Influences and Artistic Direction

Likenesses to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott readily acknowledges an admirer, naming the show alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which details the travails of an influencer Tallulah and ally who is also new talent manager Maia. Notably, the biggest influence on concept was reserved for the popular sitcom, the show depicting an emerging Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy entertainment industry (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it throughout lockdown, became “hooked”, and decided to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The idea for I Love LA emerged—to some extent—from personal, originally fractious, move to LA and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for astrology heads. That period marked a time that saw her understand some big insights, work-wise and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Starting Out

Brought up in Connecticut, Sennott started developing and showcasing stand-up while studying acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” 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. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”

Sennott took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with Edebiri and posting hysterical (and distinctly) bizarre comedy videos online. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed characters fetishistically obsessed with pregnancy; a different one imagined working at the brand Hollister as similar to being caught in a scary movie. Interestingly, she met Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her journey, she explains, has been peers giving her a shot, rather than the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, continuing amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Manifesting Dreams

Anyone who questioned regarding Sennott then will certainly be kicking themselves now. As part of she calls a “wild, full-circle” development, she has achieved her dream vehicle. Previously she posted a clip named about Los Angeles on social media, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a series about LA residents balancing benefits of online celebrity (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your client being labeled as being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). One might tempting to produce a show about online fame that was overly glamorous—or, worse, one that punched down at those depicted. The series does neither, creating a representation of advantaged millennial living that’s frank about the chaos and the glamour.

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