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The performer enters the online meeting and at once begins an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming really regretful. Although she's only a couple of minutes delayed, she wants to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, for a writer, that’s exactly what is ideal to encounter. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Viewers who have seen the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and brash film titled Bottoms—that she co-wrote with her creative partner and appeared in alongside close companion Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that Sennott holds plenty to say, whether on identity, sex, or the pros of starting a high-school brawl society. Furthermore, once you finish her new multi-episode show I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds further perspectives on the struggles of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp with a knack for straddling different age groups).

Influences and Creative Vision

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, naming it together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for the project, which follows the journey of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend and aspiring representative Maia. Notably, the most significant presence on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, that HBO sitcom focusing on a rising Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy LA scene (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She started watching it throughout lockdown, became “hooked”, and decided to add a fresh perspective 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 inspiration for the series came—partly—from firsthand, originally rocky, relocation to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a popular occurrence for followers. That period marked an era that saw her understand some big insights, professionally and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Humble Origins

Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced creating and acting stand-up while studying theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “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. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”

Sennott took matters into her own hands, performing at amateur nights with Ayo and posting hysterical (and decidedly) unconventional skits digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely drawn to pregnancy; a different one imagined working at the brand Hollister as like being stuck in a horror film. By chance, she connected with Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually featuring in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she explains, has been people her own age offering opportunities, as opposed to traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Manifesting Dreams

Those who were skeptical about her previously will surely be kicking themselves now. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” development, she seems to have manifested an ideal role. In 2019 she shared content named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about LA residents managing the perks of digital stardom (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your client being suspected of being a substance-abusing thief, and perhaps becoming a risky persona non grata). Some could tempting to produce a show about online fame that was horribly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at those depicted. This show does neither, creating a portrait of privileged young adult living that’s frank about the chaos and the appeal.

Nuanced Portrayal

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