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The performer enters the video call and immediately launches into an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she states, appearing genuinely apologetic. Despite being only a bit late, she needs to explain. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Fortunately, for a writer, that’s exactly what one hopes to experience. Besides, it’s pretty unsurprising. Those who have seen the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass project titled Bottoms—that Sennott penned with her creative partner and appeared in alongside close companion the talented actress—will be aware that Sennott holds a lot to discuss, be it on roles, intimacy, or the pros of creating a high-school combat group. Furthermore, after watching her new eight-part HBO series I Love LA, it is clear that she has further thoughts on the challenges of modern youth (As a millennial, Sennott represents a bridge to younger audiences, straddling eras skilled for connecting millennials and Gen Z).

Influences and Creative Vision

Likenesses to the iconic series Girls naturally arise and Sennott is a fan, referencing it alongside Sex and the City, the acclaimed comedy and Donald Glover’s series as influences for her series, which follows the struggles of online personality Tallulah and ally who is also aspiring representative Sennott’s character. Notably, the largest presence on concept was reserved for the popular sitcom, the program focusing on an emerging A-list actor succeeding in an often-seedy entertainment industry (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it throughout lockdown, became “captivated”, and resolved to put her own twist on it “targeting women and LGBTQ+ viewers”.

“I wanted to make a show where the internet, not Hollywood, was the industry, because my career started online,” she notes. The concept for this project originated—in part—from her own, at first rocky, move to Los Angeles and from her saturn return, a frequently discussed phenomenon for followers. This represented an era that saw her understand significant insights, in her career and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Starting Out

Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced developing and showcasing stand-up while pursuing theatre at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” 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?”

She seized control, taking the stage at open mics with Ayo and posting hysterical (and distinctly) weird online content digitally. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, followed characters intensely drawn to motherhood; another envisioned being employed at the preppy clothing store Hollister as like being caught in a horror film. Interestingly, she met Emma through campus film circles and ended up starring in her first film, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a funeral gathering with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. A recurring idea of her journey, she says, has been contemporaries offering opportunities, rather than the industry at large. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, stating amusedly: “They don’t want us to win.”

Career Breakthrough

Those who questioned regarding Sennott then will certainly be feeling foolish currently. In what she describes as a “incredibly circular” development, she seems to have manifested her dream vehicle. In 2019 she posted a video titled on LA life on social media, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Years later, she’s executive producer (with Emma Barrie) of a series about LA residents managing the perks of internet fame (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with drawbacks (your client being accused of being a intoxicated stealer, and possibly becoming a unreliable pariah). One might tempting to produce a series about online fame that was horribly glamorous—or, worse, one that mocked at its subjects. This show does neither, creating a portrait of advantaged millennial living that’s candid about the mess and the glamour.

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 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