🔗 Share this article

The star joins the digital interview and at once starts an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, sounding really regretful. Despite being only a bit behind, she needs to explain. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s exactly what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Anyone familiar with the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken movie Bottoms—which she penned with the director and featured in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—would already know that she has plenty to discuss, be it on roles, relationships, or the appeal of forming a high-school combat group. Plus, once you finish her recent seasonal program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries even more perspectives about the challenges of modern youth (At 30, Sennott serves as a relatable figure for this generation, straddling eras skilled for straddling both generations).

Inspirations and Artistic Direction

The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, citing the show alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and Atlanta as inspirations for the project, which details the journey of a social media star Tallulah and ally who is also new representative Sennott’s character. However, the largest spot on creative vision was reserved for Entourage, the HBO sitcom focusing on an emerging celebrity succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She started watching it throughout lockdown, became “obsessed”, and resolved to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The idea for I Love LA emerged—partly—from personal, at first fractious, transition to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about occurrence for followers. It was a time that involved her grasp significant insights, professionally and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she admits. “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

Growing up in the East Coast, the star started developing and showcasing stand-up while studying performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. 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 seized control, performing at live shows with her friend and uploading hilarious (and decidedly) weird online content digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, followed characters fetishistically obsessed with pregnancy; another imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being stuck in a scary movie. By chance, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a Jewish wake with hints of the intense thriller. The central motif of her journey, she explains, has been people her own age offering opportunities, instead of established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, adding with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Rising Success

Individuals who questioned regarding Sennott then will likely be kicking themselves currently. In what she labels a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she has manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded a clip named “it’s LA” online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a show about Angelenos balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your client being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be easy to create a program about digital influence that was extremely aspirational—or, worse, one that mocked at those depicted. This show avoids both, resulting in a depiction of privileged young adult existence that’s frank about the mess and the glamour.

Balanced Perspective

“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