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The performer enters the digital interview and immediately starts an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, appearing genuinely remorseful. She is only a couple of minutes delayed, she needs to explain. “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, that’s precisely what one hopes to encounter. Additionally, it’s pretty unsurprising. Viewers who know her boldly queer and outspoken film titled Bottoms—that Sennott penned with Emma Seligman and appeared in together with close companion the talented actress—will already know that she possesses a lot to discuss, be it on identity, intimacy, or the pros of starting a high-school combat group. And, after watching her recent eight-part HBO series titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that she carries additional insights on the darker side of young adulthood (As a millennial, she represents an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp adept for connecting millennials and Gen Z).

Guiding Lights and Creative Vision

Parallels to Lena Dunham’s Girls naturally arise and the actress is a fan, referencing it in addition to the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Donald Glover’s series as influences for her series, which tracks the struggles of online personality played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also fledgling talent manager Sennott’s character. Notably, the most significant presence on concept belonged to the HBO series, the HBO sitcom about an up-and-coming Hollywood star succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). She started watching it during lockdown, became “captivated”, and decided to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.

“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she says. The idea for the series originated—partly—from her own, originally fractious, move to Tinseltown and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed occurrence for followers. That period marked an era that involved her grasp significant insights, professionally and in private life. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she recalls. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Early Beginnings

Brought up in the East Coast, Sennott commenced writing and performing humor while enrolled in acting at a prestigious arts school. “Despite trying every conventional route, I couldn’t find my footing,” she explains. “Every campus humor group turned me down after tryouts.” “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”

She took matters into her own hands, performing at open mics with Edebiri and sharing uproarious (and very) unconventional comedy videos digitally. A particular video, Baby Cult, depicted a group of women obsessively obsessed with having babies; another envisioned working at the brand Hollister as similar to being caught in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through the university’s film scene and ultimately starring in her initial project, titled Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of Uncut Gems. A recurring idea of her career, she explains, has been peers giving her a shot, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, adding amusedly: “Our victory isn’t their goal.”

Rising Success

Anyone who had doubts regarding Sennott earlier will likely be kicking themselves today. In what she labels a “incredibly circular” development, she has manifested the perfect project. In 2019 she uploaded a clip titled “it’s LA” on social media, in which she parodied Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Now, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a comedy about Angelenos balancing the perks of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a famous actor’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing stealer, and perhaps becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). It would be simple to produce a show about online fame that was overly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at the characters. This show does neither, resulting in a depiction of affluent young adult living that’s honest about the chaos 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