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The performer enters the video call and right away launches into an apology. “I can’t believe I’m late!” she exclaims, seeming really apologetic. Although she's only a couple of minutes delayed, she needs to clarify. “My phone conversations always run long.” I had two calls before this, and I’m like, I’ve gotta stop talking!” Luckily, for a writer, this is exactly what is ideal to hear. Moreover, it’s fairly expected. Anyone who know the fearlessly LGBTQ+ and brash project Bottoms—that Sennott collaborated on with the director and starred in alongside her friend Ayo Edebiri—can be aware that Sennott holds plenty to discuss, whether on identity, relationships, or the pros of creating a teen fight club. And, after watching the new multi-episode program I Love LA, it is clear that the star has additional insights on the struggles of Gen Z life (At 30, she serves as a relatable figure of the gang, a tale-end millennial with a knack for connecting both generations).

Guiding Lights and Storytelling Approach

The comparisons to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress is an admirer, naming it alongside Sex and the City, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as influences for the project, which details the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and close companion who is also fledgling talent manager Sennott’s character. However, the largest influence on creative vision was reserved for the HBO series, the HBO sitcom depicting a rising Hollywood star making his way in an often-seedy Hollywood (notable statement: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott began viewing it throughout the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and chose to create a new version on it “for the girls and the gays”.

“I sought to highlight online platforms as the new industry, since my professional journey launched there,” she says. The inspiration for this project came—to some extent—from firsthand, initially rocky, move to Los Angeles and from the cosmic event, a frequently discussed phenomenon for followers. That period marked a time that saw her grasp major insights, in her career and individually. “During my younger years, I was chaotic, often breaking down in public,” she says. “After relocating to Los Angeles in my mid-twenties, I found stability, only for things to crumble. “It resembled a series of extreme challenges…”

Starting Out

Growing up in Connecticut, Sennott commenced writing and performing stand-up while pursuing acting at NYU’s Tisch. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “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. And I just felt like, what am I doing here?”

She seized control, taking the stage at live shows with Edebiri and posting hilarious (and very) unconventional online content online. One, titled Baby Cult, followed a group of women fetishistically fixated on pregnancy; another envisioned working at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being stuck in a thriller. Interestingly, she met Emma through campus film circles and eventually starring in her directorial debut, titled Shiva Baby, an anxious film set at a religious event with shades of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The big theme of her path, she notes, has been people her own age supporting her, instead of traditional networks. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “They were not involved”, she confirms, stating with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”

Manifesting Dreams

Anyone who were skeptical regarding her then will likely be kicking themselves now. Through she calls a “incredibly circular” turn of events, she seems to have achieved her dream vehicle. Previously she uploaded content called on LA life on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“Everyone’s hooked on something”). Now, she’s a lead creator (with the co-writer) of a show about city dwellers managing benefits of online celebrity (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being accused of being a drug-addled stealer, and perhaps becoming a risky persona non grata). One might tempting to create a show about digital influence that was horribly glamorous—or, even less favorable, one that mocked at the characters. I Love LA steers clear of each, creating a depiction of advantaged millennial living that’s frank about the chaos and the shine.

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