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The performer joins the video call and immediately starts an excuse. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, appearing truly remorseful. She is only slightly late, she wants to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is precisely what you want to encounter. Additionally, it’s quite expected. Those who have seen the unapologetically openly gay and brash film titled Bottoms—which she co-wrote with Emma Seligman and appeared in with her friend the talented actress—will understand that Sennott holds plenty to discuss, whether on roles, sex, or the merits of starting a teen fight club. And, by the end the new eight-part program I Love LA, it is clear that the star carries even more insights regarding the challenges of Gen Z life (As a millennial, she is a bridge for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).

Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress admits to being enthusiastic, naming the show alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as influences for her series, which follows the travails of a social media star Tallulah and her friend and new talent manager Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the biggest spot on concept went to the HBO series, that HBO sitcom depicting an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy Hollywood (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it during the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and resolved to put her own twist 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 notes. The idea for the series came—partly—from personal, originally fractious, relocation to Tinseltown and from the astrological phase, a popular event for followers. That period marked a phase that saw her grasp significant insights, in her career and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” 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 resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Starting Out

Brought up in the East Coast, the star began developing and showcasing humor while studying theatre 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. “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. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

Sennott decided to act independently, taking the stage at amateur nights with Edebiri and uploading hysterical (and very) bizarre online content on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women obsessively fixated on pregnancy; a different one imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and eventually starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her path, she explains, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, rather than traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, adding amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Rising Success

Those who were skeptical about her then will certainly be kicking themselves today. As part of she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she appears to created the perfect project. A few years back she uploaded a clip titled about Los Angeles on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a comedy about city dwellers managing benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being labeled as being a substance-abusing stealer, and possibly becoming a risky persona non grata). Some could tempting to produce a program about digital influence that was overly idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at the characters. This show steers clear of each, making for a portrait of privileged millennial life that’s frank about the chaos 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