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The star enters the video call and at once begins an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, appearing truly regretful. Although she's only a bit delayed, she feels compelled to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, during an interview, this is precisely what is ideal to experience. Additionally, it’s pretty predictable. Those who know the boldly queer and unapologetically crass film titled Bottoms—that she penned with the director and starred in with close companion the talented actress—would be aware that she holds much to share, whether about roles, intimacy, or the merits of starting a teen fight club. Furthermore, by the end her recent eight-part show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she holds further perspectives regarding the challenges of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents an honorary member for this generation, a tale-end millennial with a knack for bridging different age groups).

Inspirations and Creative Vision

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, naming it together with the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as guides for the project, which tracks the struggles of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and fledgling agent Maia. Perhaps, the biggest spot on creative vision was reserved for Entourage, that HBO sitcom focusing on an up-and-coming A-list actor navigating in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it amid the pandemic, became “captivated”, and resolved to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The concept for I Love LA came—to some extent—from her own, at first difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a popular occurrence for followers. This represented a time that included her understand major life lessons, professionally and personally. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Humble Origins

Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott commenced writing and performing humor while pursuing theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “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?”

She took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at live shows with Ayo and sharing uproarious (and decidedly) weird online content digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, centered on several females fetishistically drawn to motherhood; a different one imagined working at the brand Hollister as akin to being trapped in a thriller. By chance, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and ended up starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of Uncut Gems. The big theme of her journey, she explains, has been people her own age supporting her, instead of the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she confirms, stating with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Manifesting Dreams

Individuals who had doubts regarding Sennott earlier will likely be regretting it now. As part of she calls a “astonishingly complete” development, she has manifested the perfect project. A few years back she uploaded a video called on LA life on social media, in which she lampooned film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a comedy about LA residents managing benefits of internet fame (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being labeled as being a substance-abusing thief, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). It would be easy to create a show about digital influence that was overly idealized—or, more problematic, one that mocked at those depicted. This show does neither, making for a representation of privileged twentysomething living that’s frank about the grot and the glamour.

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 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