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The star joins the video call and at once begins an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she says, seeming truly apologetic. Although she's only slightly delayed, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Thankfully, in this context, this is precisely what you want to hear. Additionally, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone familiar with the fearlessly openly gay and brash movie Bottoms—which she collaborated on with Emma Seligman and starred in alongside collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would understand that she holds much to discuss, be it about roles, relationships, or the appeal of forming a teen fight club. Plus, once you finish the recent seasonal HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds additional insights regarding the challenges of modern youth (As a millennial, she is a bridge for this generation, on the cusp adept for straddling millennials and Gen Z).

Inspirations and Storytelling Approach

Likenesses to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and the actress readily acknowledges enthusiastic, citing it alongside Sex and the City, Insecure and the innovative program as inspirations for the project, which tracks the journey of a social media star Tallulah and close companion who is also aspiring agent Sennott’s character. However, the most significant influence on the moodboard went to Entourage, the show about an emerging A-list actor navigating in a gritty Hollywood (choice quote: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She started watching it throughout the pandemic, became “hooked”, and chose to create a new version on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The concept for I Love LA came—to some extent—from her own, originally difficult, transition to LA and from the saturn return, a popular occurrence for followers. This represented a time that saw her learn some big truths, in her career and in private life. “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…”

Starting Out

Growing up in the East Coast, Sennott commenced creating and acting humor while pursuing theatre at a prestigious arts school. “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. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

She took matters into her own hands, performing at open mics with her friend and posting uproarious (and distinctly) unconventional online content on the internet. One, titled Baby Cult, followed several females obsessively fixated on having babies; another portrayed being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she connected with Seligman through NYU’s movie community and eventually featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious dramedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the intense thriller. The central motif of her path, she notes, has been contemporaries giving her a shot, instead of traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she confirms, adding humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Career Breakthrough

Those who were skeptical about Sennott earlier will certainly be kicking themselves now. As part of she calls a “astonishingly complete” development, she appears to manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded a video titled about Los Angeles online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Now, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a series about city dwellers balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a risky outcast). Some could tempting to create a show about internet celebrity that was horribly aspirational—or, worse, one that punched down at the characters. The series avoids both, resulting in a portrait of advantaged millennial living that’s candid about the mess and the glamour.

Nuanced Portrayal

“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