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The performer appears on the digital interview and immediately begins an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she states, sounding truly apologetic. Despite being only a bit behind, she needs to justify. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, in this context, this is precisely what you want to experience. Besides, it’s quite unsurprising. Anyone who have seen her unapologetically openly gay and unapologetically crass movie titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with the director and starred in with close companion The Bear’s standout—would understand that she has plenty to discuss, whether about identity, sex, or the pros of creating a teen fight club. Plus, once you finish the new seasonal show titled I Love LA, it is clear that she carries additional perspectives regarding the struggles of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a bridge for this generation, on the cusp skilled for straddling both generations).

Guiding Lights and Creative Vision

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, citing the show in addition to the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as guides for the project, which tracks the struggles of an influencer Tallulah and ally who is also aspiring agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the biggest presence on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, that HBO sitcom depicting an up-and-coming Hollywood star navigating in an often-seedy Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it amid COVID-19, became “obsessed”, and decided to add a fresh perspective on it “for the girls and the gays”.

“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The inspiration for this project came—to some extent—from her own, originally difficult, move to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed event for enthusiasts. This represented a phase that saw her understand major insights, professionally and individually. “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 …”

Early Beginnings

Raised in the East Coast, the star began developing and showcasing comedy while studying performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” 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. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”

She took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with her friend and sharing hilarious (and very) bizarre online content digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, followed characters fetishistically drawn to pregnancy; a different one imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being caught in a horror film. By chance, she connected with Emma through campus film circles and ultimately featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a funeral gathering with echoes of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her journey, she says, has been people her own age supporting her, as opposed to established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Manifesting Dreams

Anyone who questioned regarding her then will likely be kicking themselves now. In what she labels a “incredibly circular” development, she seems to have created the perfect project. Previously she posted content called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a show about Angelenos balancing the perks of internet fame (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled thief, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). Some could easy to produce a program about online fame that was extremely idealized—or, worse, one that mocked at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, resulting in a representation of advantaged twentysomething life that’s candid about the grot and the glamour.

Nuanced Portrayal

“There have been a lot of shows that depict young people and their relationship to the internet in this very condescending, hateful way,” 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