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The performer appears on the online meeting and right away begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, appearing truly regretful. Despite being only slightly delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “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!” Luckily, in this context, this is precisely what you want to encounter. Moreover, it’s fairly expected. Viewers who have seen the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—that she collaborated on with the director and appeared in together with her friend Ayo Edebiri—will understand that she holds a lot to share, be it on roles, sex, or the pros of forming a teen combat group. Plus, after watching the latest multi-episode HBO series I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds further perspectives regarding the struggles of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents a bridge to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for connecting different age groups).

Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges enthusiastic, referencing it together with the HBO hit, Insecure and the innovative program as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and ally who is also aspiring talent manager Maia. Notably, the most significant presence on the moodboard went to Entourage, that show depicting a rising Hollywood star succeeding in an often-seedy entertainment industry (notable statement: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott began viewing it during lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose to put her own twist 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 says. The inspiration for the series originated—to some extent—from firsthand, initially rocky, transition to Tinseltown and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about occurrence for enthusiasts. This represented an era that saw her understand some big life lessons, work-wise and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “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 …”

Early Beginnings

Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott commenced creating and acting comedy while studying performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

She decided to act independently, appearing at live shows with her friend and uploading hilarious (and distinctly) weird skits online. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on a group of women intensely drawn to pregnancy; another portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as like being trapped in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and eventually starring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a Jewish wake with echoes of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her path, she explains, has been peers giving her a shot, instead of traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “They were not involved”, she repeats, continuing with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”

Rising Success

Those who had doubts regarding Sennott earlier will certainly be kicking themselves now. In what she labels a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she has manifested the perfect project. Previously she posted a clip named “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with the co-writer) of a series about Angelenos juggling the perks of online celebrity (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a intoxicated thief, and perhaps becoming a risky persona non grata). Some could easy to produce a series about internet celebrity that was extremely aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at those depicted. I Love LA steers clear of each, resulting in a representation of privileged millennial living that’s candid about the mess and the appeal.

Balanced Perspective

“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