🔗 Share this article

The performer joins the video call and right away starts an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, sounding genuinely remorseful. She is only slightly delayed, she needs to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is precisely what is ideal to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty unsurprising. Those who have seen the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and brash project Bottoms—which she penned with the director and appeared in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that she possesses a lot to say, ranging from about gender, sex, or the appeal of starting a teen brawl society. Furthermore, after watching the recent seasonal HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that the star has additional insights regarding the challenges of modern youth (As a millennial, Sennott is an honorary member to younger audiences, straddling eras with a knack for bridging different age groups).

Influences and Artistic Direction

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and the actress is a fan, citing the show in addition to the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as guides for I Love LA, which follows the travails of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion and aspiring talent manager Maia. However, the biggest presence on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, the program depicting a rising celebrity navigating in a corrupt LA scene (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She began viewing it during lockdown, became “obsessed”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The inspiration for I Love LA originated—in part—from personal, originally rocky, move to LA and from her saturn return, a much-talked-about phenomenon for astrology heads. It was a phase that saw her understand some big life lessons, professionally and in private life. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Starting Out

Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott commenced developing and showcasing stand-up while pursuing acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “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 took matters into her own hands, taking the stage at open mics with her friend and uploading uproarious (and distinctly) bizarre skits on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely obsessed with having babies; a different one envisioned being employed at the brand Hollister as similar to being trapped in a horror film. By chance, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a religious event with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her path, she explains, has been people her own age giving her a shot, instead of established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she repeats, adding humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Manifesting Dreams

Individuals who questioned about Sennott then will certainly be feeling foolish currently. In what she calls a “astonishingly complete” development, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. Previously she uploaded content titled about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she lampooned Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about Angelenos juggling the perks of online celebrity (such as socializing at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a substance-abusing criminal, and perhaps becoming a unreliable persona non grata). Some could tempting to produce a series about digital influence that was extremely idealized—or, worse, one that mocked at those depicted. I Love LA does neither, making for a depiction of privileged millennial life that’s honest about the mess and the glamour.

Balanced Perspective

“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