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The star appears on the video call and at once starts an excuse. “Oh my God – I’m sorry!” she exclaims, appearing genuinely regretful. Although she's only a bit late, she needs to explain. “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 precisely what you want to experience. Moreover, it’s pretty predictable. Anyone familiar with her boldly LGBTQ+ and outspoken project titled Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and starred in with close companion Ayo Edebiri—would be aware that she holds much to say, whether about gender, intimacy, or the pros of starting a youth fight club. And, once you finish her recent seasonal HBO series titled I Love LA, it is clear that the star has additional perspectives about the challenges of young adulthood (At 30, she is a relatable figure of the gang, on the cusp with a knack for connecting millennials and Gen Z).

Guiding Lights and Creative Vision

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress is an admirer, citing the show in addition to the HBO hit, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as guides for the project, which follows the travails of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also aspiring representative Sennott’s character. Notably, the biggest influence on concept went to Entourage, the HBO sitcom about an emerging A-list actor succeeding in a corrupt entertainment industry (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it throughout COVID-19, became “hooked”, and decided to add a fresh perspective 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 notes. The concept for I Love LA came—to some extent—from personal, at first rocky, move to Los Angeles and from her cosmic event, a much-talked-about event for followers. It was a phase that included her learn some big life lessons, professionally and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she admits. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Humble Origins

Growing up in New England, Sennott started writing and performing comedy while studying theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “I wondered why I was even there at all.”

Sennott took matters into her own hands, performing at open mics with Ayo and uploading hilarious (and very) bizarre online content digitally. One, titled Baby Cult, followed several females fetishistically fixated on having babies; a different one imagined being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being trapped in a thriller. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through campus film circles and eventually appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense film set at a funeral gathering with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her path, she says, has been peers giving her a shot, as opposed to established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she emphasizes, continuing humorously: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Career Breakthrough

Those who were skeptical about Sennott previously will certainly be feeling foolish now. In what she labels a “wild, full-circle” story, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. In 2019 she uploaded content called about Los Angeles online, in which she lampooned movie previews (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s a lead creator (with Emma Barrie) of a show about LA residents managing the perks of digital stardom (such as partying at a celebrity’s house) with its pitfalls (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing criminal, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be easy to create a series about digital influence that was overly aspirational—or, even less favorable, one that punched down at those depicted. The series does neither, resulting in a portrait of advantaged millennial living that’s honest about the grot and the shine.

Nuanced Portrayal

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