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The performer joins the video call and immediately begins an explanation. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, appearing really regretful. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, she wants to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, for a writer, this is just what one hopes to hear. Additionally, it’s pretty expected. Viewers who have seen the fearlessly openly gay and brash film Bottoms—which she collaborated on with the director and featured in alongside close companion The Bear’s standout—will already know that she holds a lot to discuss, ranging from about identity, sex, or the merits of starting a youth brawl society. Plus, by the end her recent multi-episode show titled I Love LA, it is clear that she has additional perspectives about the challenges of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents an honorary member for this generation, on the cusp with a knack for bridging millennials and Gen Z).

Influences and Creative Vision

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress readily acknowledges a fan, referencing the show in addition to Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Atlanta as influences for her series, which details the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also fledgling agent Maia. Notably, the most significant presence on concept went to Entourage, that show focusing on an emerging Hollywood star navigating in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it throughout lockdown, became “hooked”, and resolved to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.

“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The concept for I Love LA originated—in part—from personal, originally difficult, transition to LA and from her cosmic event, a popular event for astrology heads. It was a phase that saw her learn significant life lessons, in her career and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” 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 resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Humble Origins

Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott began writing and performing stand-up while enrolled in acting at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

She seized control, taking the stage at amateur nights with her friend and posting hilarious (and distinctly) unconventional online content on the internet. One, Baby Cult, depicted characters intensely obsessed with pregnancy; another imagined being employed at the brand Hollister as like being caught in a horror film. By chance, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her path, she notes, has been peers offering opportunities, instead of traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, adding with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Manifesting Dreams

Individuals who were skeptical about Sennott earlier will likely be kicking themselves now. Through she calls a “incredibly circular” story, she has achieved her dream vehicle. A few years back she posted content called about Los Angeles on social media, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a comedy about Angelenos balancing benefits of digital stardom (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your associate being suspected of being a drug-addled criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). Some could simple to create a program about online fame that was extremely glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at those depicted. This show avoids both, resulting in a representation of advantaged young adult existence that’s frank about the mess 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 says. “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