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The performer appears on the video call and right away launches into an apology. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she says, seeming genuinely regretful. Despite being only a bit late, she needs to explain. “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 exactly what one hopes to experience. Moreover, it’s fairly predictable. Those familiar with the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and outspoken film Bottoms—that she collaborated on with her creative partner and featured in alongside her friend The Bear’s standout—can be aware that she holds much to say, ranging from about identity, intimacy, or the appeal of starting a teen fight club. Furthermore, by the end her new multi-episode program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries additional thoughts on the struggles of modern youth (Now in her thirties, Sennott represents an honorary member for this generation, on the cusp adept for straddling millennials and Gen Z).

Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach

The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, referencing the show alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as guides for I Love LA, which follows the travails of a social media star Tallulah and close companion and new agent portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the largest presence on creative vision was reserved for Entourage, the show focusing on a rising A-list actor making his way in a corrupt LA scene (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it during the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and resolved 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 personal, initially rocky, relocation to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about occurrence for followers. That period marked a time that saw her understand major insights, work-wise and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Humble Origins

Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott began creating and acting humor while studying performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she says. “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 decided to act independently, appearing at amateur nights with her friend and sharing hysterical (and very) bizarre skits on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women intensely fixated on pregnancy; a different one imagined being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and eventually featuring in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a Jewish wake with shades of the intense thriller. A recurring idea of her career, she notes, has been peers supporting her, as opposed to traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, continuing amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Rising Success

Those who had doubts about her then will likely be kicking themselves currently. As part of she describes as a “incredibly circular” development, she has manifested the perfect project. Previously she shared a video named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied movie previews (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about Angelenos managing benefits of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your client being accused of being a drug-addled thief, and perhaps becoming a risky pariah). Some could simple to make a series about online fame that was horribly glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at the characters. The series does neither, creating a portrait of advantaged twentysomething living that’s honest about the grot and the shine.

Balanced Perspective

“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” she observes. “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