🔗 Share this article

The performer joins the online meeting and immediately starts an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, sounding genuinely regretful. She is only slightly delayed, she feels compelled to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is just what is ideal to experience. Additionally, it’s pretty unsurprising. Anyone who have seen the boldly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with her creative partner and appeared in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—can be aware that she holds much to discuss, whether about identity, sex, or the pros of creating a teen fight club. Plus, once you finish her latest eight-part show titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she holds additional thoughts regarding the struggles of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, she serves as a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for connecting different age groups).

Guiding Lights and Creative Vision

The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show can’t be avoided and Sennott admits to being a fan, citing it alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as influences for the project, which details the journey of online personality Tallulah and her friend and aspiring agent Sennott’s character. However, the most significant influence on concept went to Entourage, the show depicting a rising Hollywood star making his way in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She began viewing it throughout COVID-19, became “hooked”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she says. The inspiration for this project originated—to some extent—from her own, initially difficult, transition to Los Angeles and from her astrological phase, a frequently discussed occurrence for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that saw her grasp significant insights, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” 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 resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Starting Out

Raised in Connecticut, Sennott started developing and showcasing comedy while pursuing performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” 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, taking the stage at amateur nights with Ayo and sharing hilarious (and distinctly) unconventional online content online. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women obsessively obsessed with motherhood; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being trapped in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Emma through campus film circles and ended up appearing in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her journey, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, instead of the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, adding humorously: “They don’t want us to win.”

Manifesting Dreams

Anyone who had doubts about Sennott previously will certainly be kicking themselves now. In what she labels a “astonishingly complete” story, she has achieved her dream vehicle. A few years back she shared content called about Los Angeles on the internet, in which she mocked film promos (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about city dwellers balancing benefits of online celebrity (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your client being suspected of being a drug-addled thief, and perhaps becoming a risky pariah). It would be easy to create a program about digital influence that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at those depicted. I Love LA steers clear of each, making for a portrait of advantaged twentysomething existence that’s frank about the chaos and the appeal.

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 observes. “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