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The performer enters the online meeting and right away launches into an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, seeming truly remorseful. Despite being only slightly behind, she wants to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, during an interview, that’s precisely what is ideal to encounter. Moreover, it’s fairly predictable. Those familiar with the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and brash project Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with the director and appeared in alongside close companion the talented actress—would already know that she holds much to discuss, be it on identity, intimacy, or the pros of starting a teen brawl society. Plus, after watching the latest multi-episode HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star has even more insights about the struggles of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott is a bridge for this generation, on the cusp skilled for connecting different age groups).

Inspirations and Creative Vision

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, citing it alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for I Love LA, which tracks the travails of a social media star Tallulah and her friend who is also fledgling representative portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the largest influence on the moodboard went to Entourage, that program focusing on a rising celebrity succeeding in a gritty LA scene (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott began viewing it during COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and chose to create a new version 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 originated—in part—from her own, initially fractious, relocation to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about phenomenon for followers. This represented a time that saw her grasp major insights, in her career 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 was almost like these biblical tests …”

Starting Out

Raised in the East Coast, the star commenced developing and showcasing comedy while enrolled in theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” 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. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”

She took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with her friend and uploading uproarious (and very) bizarre comedy videos digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically obsessed with motherhood; another imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being stuck in a thriller. By chance, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and eventually featuring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a religious event with echoes of the intense thriller. The big theme of her career, she notes, has been peers supporting her, rather than traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, continuing amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Manifesting Dreams

Anyone who were skeptical about her previously will likely be regretting it today. As part of she describes as a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she seems to have manifested an ideal role. Previously she posted a clip titled about Los Angeles on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a series about city dwellers juggling benefits of online celebrity (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). One might tempting to make a series about digital influence that was extremely idealized—or, worse, one that belittled at those depicted. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a depiction of privileged twentysomething existence that’s honest about the grot and the glamour.

Nuanced Portrayal

“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” 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