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The star joins the digital interview and right away starts an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she exclaims, sounding really apologetic. She is only a bit behind, she needs to justify. “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 one hopes to experience. Additionally, it’s pretty predictable. Anyone who know her boldly queer and outspoken movie titled Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with the director and appeared in together with her friend the talented actress—will already know that she possesses much to share, whether on gender, relationships, or the pros of creating a youth combat group. Furthermore, by the end her latest eight-part program I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries further insights on the darker side of Gen Z life (At 30, Sennott is a bridge to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for straddling millennials and Gen Z).

Inspirations and Creative Vision

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges an admirer, citing the show in addition to the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for I Love LA, which follows the struggles of online personality Tallulah and ally who is also aspiring agent portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the largest spot on concept belonged to Entourage, that show about an up-and-coming Hollywood star making his way in a corrupt LA scene (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott started watching it during lockdown, became “obsessed”, and chose 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 notes. The concept for the series emerged—in part—from her own, initially rocky, transition to LA and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about event for enthusiasts. That period marked a phase that saw her learn some big life lessons, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Humble Origins

Brought up in New England, the star commenced writing and performing humor while pursuing performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

Sennott decided to act independently, appearing at open mics with Edebiri and uploading hysterical (and decidedly) unconventional online content online. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed characters intensely fixated on motherhood; a different one envisioned working at the brand Hollister as like being caught in a thriller. By chance, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a funeral gathering with hints of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her career, she notes, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Manifesting Dreams

Anyone who questioned regarding her then will likely be kicking themselves currently. Through she labels a “wild, full-circle” development, she seems to have manifested the perfect project. A few years back she posted a clip named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about city dwellers juggling benefits of digital stardom (such as partying at a famous actor’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being suspected of being a intoxicated thief, and potentially becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). Some could tempting to produce a show about digital influence that was extremely idealized—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA avoids both, making for a depiction of advantaged twentysomething life that’s candid 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 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