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The performer joins the digital interview and immediately launches into an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, sounding truly regretful. Despite being only a couple of minutes late, she feels compelled to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, during an interview, this is precisely what is ideal to experience. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Those who have seen the unapologetically queer and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—which Sennott collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—will already know that Sennott has plenty to discuss, be it about gender, sex, or the pros of starting a high-school combat group. And, after watching her latest seasonal program titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds even more perspectives regarding the challenges of modern youth (As a millennial, Sennott serves as a relatable figure to younger audiences, straddling eras skilled for connecting different age groups).

Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and the actress is a fan, referencing it in addition to Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as guides for I Love LA, which tracks the travails of online personality Tallulah and ally who is also fledgling talent manager Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the largest influence on concept was reserved for Entourage, the HBO sitcom about an emerging Hollywood star making his way in a corrupt LA scene (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She discovered it during the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The concept for the series originated—to some extent—from her own, at first rocky, relocation to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed event for astrology heads. It was a phase that included her grasp some big insights, in her career and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “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 …”

Early Beginnings

Raised in New England, Sennott started creating and acting stand-up while enrolled in acting at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

Sennott took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at open mics with Ayo and posting uproarious (and distinctly) unconventional online content online. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; another imagined being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being trapped in a horror film. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her path, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, rather than established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, adding with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Manifesting Dreams

Individuals who had doubts regarding her then will certainly be kicking themselves now. Through she labels a “wild, full-circle” development, she has created an ideal role. A few years back she shared a clip called about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a show about Angelenos juggling the perks of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). It would be tempting to produce a show about digital influence that was overly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at the characters. This show does neither, making for a depiction of privileged young adult living that’s candid about the mess and the appeal.

Nuanced Portrayal

“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