🔗 Share this article

The star enters the video call and right away launches into an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, sounding really remorseful. Although she's only slightly behind, she feels compelled to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Luckily, in this context, this is just what is ideal to hear. Besides, it’s pretty expected. Viewers who have seen her boldly queer and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and starred in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—can be aware that she holds plenty to share, whether about identity, intimacy, or the pros of starting a teen fight club. Furthermore, after watching her latest multi-episode HBO series titled I Love LA, it is clear that she holds even more insights about the challenges of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a relatable figure for this generation, straddling eras with a knack for bridging both generations).

Inspirations and Storytelling Approach

The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott is enthusiastic, referencing it together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and the innovative program as influences for I Love LA, which follows the journey of an influencer Tallulah and close companion who is also aspiring agent Maia. Notably, the largest influence on the moodboard belonged to the popular sitcom, the program about a rising celebrity navigating in an often-seedy Hollywood (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it during the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.

“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she explains. The inspiration for this project emerged—in part—from personal, initially rocky, relocation to LA and from the astrological phase, a popular event for enthusiasts. That period marked a time that involved her understand significant life lessons, work-wise and personally. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she admits. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Humble Origins

Raised in New England, the star started developing and showcasing humor while enrolled in acting at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she says. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

Sennott seized control, performing at amateur nights with her friend and sharing uproarious (and decidedly) unconventional comedy videos online. One, titled Baby Cult, centered on characters fetishistically fixated on pregnancy; another envisioned working at the brand Hollister as similar to being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through NYU’s movie community and eventually appearing in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her path, she notes, has been people her own age offering opportunities, rather than established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, stating humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Career Breakthrough

Individuals who were skeptical regarding Sennott then will certainly be kicking themselves now. As part of she calls a “wild, full-circle” development, she seems to have manifested an ideal role. In 2019 she posted a clip called “it’s LA” on social media, in which she mocked film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a series about LA residents juggling advantages of digital stardom (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your associate being accused of being a substance-abusing criminal, and potentially becoming a risky outcast). Some could easy to make a series about internet celebrity that was horribly idealized—or, worse, one that punched down at the characters. I Love LA does neither, making for a depiction of privileged young adult living that’s candid about the grot and the glamour.

Empathetic Approach

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