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The star enters the video call and immediately begins an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, seeming genuinely apologetic. Despite being only slightly delayed, she wants to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Fortunately, for a writer, this is just what one hopes to experience. Additionally, it’s quite predictable. Anyone familiar with the unapologetically LGBTQ+ and brash movie titled Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with the director and starred in together with her friend The Bear’s standout—would be aware that she has plenty to say, be it about roles, sex, or the pros of forming a teen fight club. Furthermore, after watching her new seasonal show I Love LA, it is clear that the star has further perspectives about the struggles of Gen Z life (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a bridge for this generation, straddling eras adept for straddling millennials and Gen Z).

Influences and Storytelling Approach

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls can’t be avoided and Sennott readily acknowledges a fan, referencing the show together with Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as guides for her series, which tracks the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also new representative Maia. However, the largest influence on creative vision went to Entourage, that program focusing on a rising celebrity succeeding in a gritty LA scene (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She began viewing it during lockdown, became “captivated”, and resolved 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 I Love LA came—to some extent—from her own, originally difficult, relocation to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a much-talked-about occurrence for astrology heads. This represented a phase that involved her understand significant life lessons, work-wise and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Starting Out

Raised in the East Coast, Sennott started creating and acting comedy while pursuing performance at New York University (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she states. “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, appearing at amateur nights with her friend and sharing hysterical (and very) unconventional comedy videos digitally. One, Baby Cult, depicted several females fetishistically obsessed with having babies; another envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as similar to being stuck in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she connected with Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up featuring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her journey, she says, has been peers supporting her, as opposed to established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, continuing humorously: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Rising Success

Individuals who had doubts regarding her previously will certainly be feeling foolish now. Through she calls a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she has created the perfect project. In 2019 she shared a clip titled on LA life on the internet, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with her partner) of a show about Angelenos juggling advantages of internet fame (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your associate being suspected of being a drug-addled criminal, and potentially becoming a risky persona non grata). It would be simple to create a program about online fame that was horribly glamorous—or, more problematic, one that mocked at the characters. This show avoids both, resulting in a depiction of advantaged young adult existence that’s candid about the mess and the appeal.

Empathetic Approach

“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