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The star appears on the online meeting and at once launches into an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, seeming really remorseful. She is only slightly delayed, she feels compelled to explain. “I tend to talk too much during calls. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, during an interview, that’s exactly what is ideal to experience. Besides, it’s pretty expected. Those who know her boldly queer and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—which Sennott penned with the director and featured in with close companion Ayo Edebiri—would already know that she holds a lot to say, whether on gender, intimacy, or the merits of starting a teen fight club. And, by the end the latest multi-episode program I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she has even more perspectives about the darker side of modern youth (As a millennial, she is an honorary member for this generation, straddling eras adept for bridging both generations).

Guiding Lights and Artistic Direction

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott is a fan, naming it alongside Sex and the City, Insecure and the innovative program as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the struggles of online personality Tallulah and close companion and fledgling representative Maia. Perhaps, the biggest spot on creative vision was reserved for the popular sitcom, the program about an up-and-coming celebrity navigating in a corrupt LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). Sennott discovered it throughout the pandemic, became “hooked”, and chose to put her own twist 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 idea for this project originated—to some extent—from firsthand, initially rocky, move to LA and from her cosmic event, a frequently discussed occurrence for followers. It was a phase that involved her learn some big truths, in her career and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “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 …”

Humble Origins

Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced creating and acting stand-up while enrolled in performance at NYU’s Tisch. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”

She decided to act independently, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and sharing hysterical (and very) bizarre comedy videos online. One, Baby Cult, centered on several females fetishistically drawn to having babies; a different one portrayed working at the brand Hollister as like being stuck in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Seligman through campus film circles and ended up starring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a religious event with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her journey, she notes, has been peers offering opportunities, rather than the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, continuing with a laugh: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Career Breakthrough

Anyone who were skeptical regarding Sennott earlier will likely be feeling foolish now. In what she describes as a “astonishingly complete” development, she has manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded content titled on LA life on social media, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a series about Angelenos balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being suspected of being a substance-abusing thief, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” persona non grata). Some could simple to create a show about online fame that was extremely aspirational—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. The series does neither, making for a depiction of advantaged young adult existence 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 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