🔗 Share this article

The performer appears on the digital interview and at once begins an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, seeming really regretful. She is only a bit late, she needs to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, in this context, that’s precisely what you want to encounter. Moreover, it’s pretty unsurprising. Viewers familiar with the boldly openly gay and outspoken project Bottoms—that she penned with the director and starred in together with her friend Ayo Edebiri—can understand that she has plenty to say, ranging from on roles, intimacy, or the merits of forming a high-school fight club. And, after watching her new eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that she carries further thoughts on the struggles of young adulthood (At 30, Sennott is a relatable figure for this generation, a tale-end millennial skilled for straddling both generations).

Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress is an admirer, naming the show in addition to the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and the innovative program as influences for I Love LA, which follows the travails of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and fledgling representative portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the biggest presence on the moodboard belonged to the HBO series, that program depicting an emerging A-list actor navigating in a corrupt Hollywood (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott started watching it during COVID-19, became “obsessed”, 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 explains. The inspiration for the series originated—to some extent—from firsthand, originally difficult, move to LA and from her astrological phase, a popular event for followers. That period marked a phase that saw her grasp some big life lessons, professionally and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Starting Out

Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott commenced writing and performing comedy while pursuing theatre at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” 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 seized control, performing at open mics with Ayo and uploading hilarious (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed characters fetishistically obsessed with motherhood; a different one envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being stuck in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and ultimately featuring in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a funeral gathering with hints of Uncut Gems. The central motif of her path, she explains, has been peers giving her a shot, instead of traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, adding humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Career Breakthrough

Anyone who questioned about her then will certainly be feeling foolish now. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. A few years back she uploaded a clip titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a show about city dwellers juggling benefits of internet fame (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” pariah). It would be easy to produce a show about digital influence that was horribly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that mocked at its subjects. This show steers clear of each, resulting in a representation of advantaged young adult life that’s candid about the mess and the appeal.

Empathetic Approach

“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” 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