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The performer enters the video call and right away launches into an explanation. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, seeming genuinely remorseful. She is only slightly delayed, she wants to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Fortunately, in this context, this is precisely what one hopes to hear. Moreover, it’s quite predictable. Anyone familiar with the unapologetically queer and outspoken film titled Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with the director and appeared in alongside collaborator the talented actress—can understand that Sennott has a lot to say, ranging from on gender, sex, or the pros of creating a youth combat group. And, once you finish the new eight-part show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries further insights about the struggles of Gen Z life (As a millennial, Sennott serves as a bridge of the gang, a tale-end millennial adept for bridging different age groups).

Guiding Lights and Creative Vision

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and Sennott is enthusiastic, citing it in addition to Sex and the City, Insecure and the innovative program as inspirations for I Love LA, which details the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also fledgling agent Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest influence on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, that HBO sitcom about an up-and-coming A-list actor making his way in a gritty LA scene (notable statement: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). Sennott discovered it throughout COVID-19, became “hooked”, and chose to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.

“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she notes. The idea for the series came—in part—from her own, originally difficult, relocation to Tinseltown and from her astrological phase, a much-talked-about phenomenon for followers. This represented a phase that included her learn major insights, in her career and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Starting Out

Brought up in New England, Sennott 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. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

Sennott took matters into her own hands, performing at amateur nights with her friend and sharing hilarious (and decidedly) unconventional online content online. A particular video, Baby Cult, followed characters fetishistically drawn to having babies; another portrayed working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being caught in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she encountered Seligman through the university’s film scene and ended up starring in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful film set at a Jewish wake with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her career, she notes, has been peers supporting her, instead of the industry at large. So the old guard wasn’t helpful? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, stating with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Career Breakthrough

Those who questioned regarding Sennott then will certainly be feeling foolish today. Through she calls a “incredibly circular” development, she has achieved an ideal role. In 2019 she uploaded content called on LA life online, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“I’m addicted to drugs – we all are”). Six years on, she’s executive producer (with the co-writer) of a show about Angelenos managing the perks of digital stardom (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with downsides (your friend being labeled as being a substance-abusing criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be simple to create a program about online fame that was overly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at its subjects. I Love LA avoids both, making for a portrait of affluent twentysomething living that’s frank about the chaos and the shine.

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