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The star enters the digital interview and right away starts an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, seeming genuinely regretful. Despite being only a couple of minutes behind, she feels compelled to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Thankfully, in this context, that’s precisely what you want to encounter. Additionally, it’s quite predictable. Those who know the boldly queer and unapologetically crass movie Bottoms—which she penned with Emma Seligman and starred in alongside close companion The Bear’s standout—will already know that Sennott possesses plenty to share, be it on gender, intimacy, or the pros of creating a teen combat group. Plus, once you finish the latest seasonal show titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star has further insights about the struggles of modern youth (At 30, Sennott is a relatable figure of the gang, on the cusp adept for straddling different age groups).

Inspirations and Storytelling Approach

The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being enthusiastic, citing it in addition to the classic series, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as guides for I Love LA, which tracks the travails of an influencer Tallulah and close companion who is also new agent Maia. Perhaps, the largest influence on concept belonged to the HBO series, the HBO sitcom depicting an emerging A-list actor making his way in an often-seedy Hollywood (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it throughout COVID-19, became “captivated”, and decided to put her own twist on it “for the girls and the gays”.

“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she notes. The idea for I Love LA emerged—to some extent—from personal, at first difficult, relocation to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a popular phenomenon for followers. It was a time that saw her grasp significant life lessons, professionally and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Humble Origins

Raised in the East Coast, Sennott started creating and acting stand-up while studying theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she states. “I tried out for all the NYU comedy groups, and got rejected from all of them. “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

She seized control, taking the stage at live shows with her friend and posting hilarious (and distinctly) weird skits on the internet. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed several females fetishistically fixated on having babies; another imagined working at the brand Hollister as similar to being caught in a scary movie. Interestingly, she encountered Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a funeral gathering with echoes of the intense thriller. The central motif of her journey, she notes, has been peers supporting her, instead of traditional networks. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, stating amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Career Breakthrough

Those who had doubts about Sennott then will certainly be regretting it today. As part of she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. A few years back she shared a video named “it’s LA” on the internet, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a series about Angelenos managing the perks of internet fame (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a unreliable pariah). It would be simple to produce a show about digital influence that was overly glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at the characters. The series steers clear of each, making for a representation of advantaged twentysomething existence that’s honest about the mess and the appeal.

Balanced Perspective

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