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The performer joins the video call and immediately starts an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, seeming really apologetic. She is only a bit behind, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, in this context, that’s just what you want to hear. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Anyone who have seen the unapologetically openly gay and brash movie titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and featured in with collaborator the talented actress—will already know that she has a lot to share, be it on gender, sex, or the merits of starting a youth fight club. And, by the end her latest multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds even more insights on the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, she is a bridge to younger audiences, straddling eras with a knack for bridging both generations).

Inspirations and Artistic Direction

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress is enthusiastic, referencing it together with the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and fledgling agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest presence on the moodboard was reserved for the HBO series, that show depicting a rising celebrity making his way in a corrupt entertainment industry (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and decided to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The idea for this project originated—to some extent—from firsthand, initially fractious, move to Tinseltown and from the cosmic event, a popular event for astrology heads. That period marked a time that saw her learn some big truths, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Early Beginnings

Growing up in New England, Sennott commenced writing and performing comedy while pursuing acting at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”

She seized control, performing at open mics with Edebiri and sharing hilarious (and decidedly) unconventional skits on the internet. One, Baby Cult, centered on characters intensely drawn to pregnancy; another imagined being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being stuck in a horror film. By chance, she met Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ended up starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a Jewish wake with echoes of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her journey, she explains, has been peers giving her a shot, instead of traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, continuing with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Rising Success

Anyone who questioned regarding Sennott earlier will likely be regretting it now. Through she calls a “astonishingly complete” development, she seems to have created the perfect project. A few years back she uploaded content titled “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she lampooned movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a comedy about city dwellers juggling the perks of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). One might tempting to produce a show about internet celebrity that was overly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA steers clear of each, making for a portrait of privileged young adult life 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 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