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The star enters the online meeting and right away starts an explanation. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, appearing truly regretful. She is only a couple of minutes delayed, she feels compelled to clarify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, for a writer, this is just what one hopes to hear. Besides, it’s quite unsurprising. Viewers who know her unapologetically queer and unapologetically crass film Bottoms—that Sennott penned with her creative partner and starred in with collaborator Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that she holds plenty to share, be it on identity, intimacy, or the appeal of creating a teen brawl society. Plus, by the end her recent multi-episode HBO series titled I Love LA, viewers realize that the star holds further thoughts on the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, Sennott represents an honorary member of the gang, a tale-end millennial adept for connecting both generations).

Inspirations and Storytelling Approach

The comparisons to Lena Dunham’s groundbreaking show are inevitable and Sennott is an admirer, referencing it alongside the classic series, Insecure and the innovative program as inspirations for her series, which tracks the travails of online personality Tallulah and her friend and aspiring representative portrayed by Sennott. Notably, the biggest influence on concept belonged to the popular sitcom, that HBO sitcom about an up-and-coming celebrity navigating in an often-seedy entertainment industry (memorable line: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it amid the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose to create a new version on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.

“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she explains. The concept for I Love LA emerged—partly—from personal, originally fractious, move to LA and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed occurrence for astrology heads. That period marked a phase that saw her learn some big life lessons, work-wise and personally. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she says. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Humble Origins

Raised in New England, the star started developing and showcasing humor while studying acting at NYU’s Tisch. “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. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “I wondered why I was even there at all.”

She seized control, performing at amateur nights with Edebiri and uploading uproarious (and decidedly) unconventional online content digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, followed several females obsessively fixated on motherhood; another imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as akin to being caught in a horror film. Interestingly, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately featuring in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense comedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her career, she says, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, as opposed to the industry at large. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she repeats, stating with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”

Manifesting Dreams

Anyone who had doubts regarding Sennott then will certainly be feeling foolish today. In what she describes as a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have achieved the perfect project. In 2019 she shared a clip titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she mocked movie previews (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a series about city dwellers juggling benefits of online celebrity (such as partying at Elijah Wood’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being suspected of being a intoxicated thief, and possibly becoming a risky persona non grata). One might simple to produce a series about digital influence that was horribly idealized—or, more problematic, one that belittled at those depicted. I Love LA does neither, making for a representation of advantaged millennial existence 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 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