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The star enters the online meeting and right away begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, seeming really remorseful. She is only a couple of minutes delayed, she wants to justify. “My phone conversations always run long.” “Earlier calls made me late—I just can’t stop chatting!” Thankfully, during an interview, this is exactly what one hopes to encounter. Besides, it’s fairly unsurprising. Anyone familiar with the unapologetically queer and outspoken movie Bottoms—that Sennott co-wrote with her creative partner and starred in together with close companion The Bear’s standout—would understand that she has much to say, ranging from about gender, sex, or the appeal of starting a teen combat group. Furthermore, by the end her new eight-part show I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star has even more insights about the challenges of young adulthood (Now in her thirties, Sennott serves as a relatable figure to younger audiences, on the cusp skilled for straddling millennials and Gen Z).

Influences and Storytelling Approach

The comparisons to the iconic series Girls are inevitable and Sennott admits to being a fan, naming the show alongside the classic series, Issa Rae’s show and Atlanta as inspirations for the project, which follows the travails of an influencer played by Odessa A’Zion and ally and aspiring talent manager portrayed by Sennott. Perhaps, the largest spot on the moodboard went to the popular sitcom, the program depicting a rising celebrity making his way in a gritty LA scene (choice quote: “only the unsuccessful find joy here”). Sennott discovered it amid lockdown, became “captivated”, and chose to add a fresh perspective 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 explains. The concept for this project came—partly—from her own, originally difficult, relocation to LA and from the saturn return, a much-talked-about event for followers. That period marked an era that included her learn major insights, work-wise and individually. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “Settling in LA during my mid-twenties brought calm, but soon everything unraveled.” “The struggles felt almost mythic in scale…”

Humble Origins

Brought up in the East Coast, the star commenced creating and acting comedy while enrolled in theatre at a prestigious arts school. “I followed traditional paths to get on stage, but nothing clicked,” she says. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. I tried out for all the NYU plays and didn’t make it into any of them. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”

Sennott seized control, appearing at live shows with Ayo and sharing hysterical (and very) bizarre skits on the internet. A particular video, titled Baby Cult, depicted characters obsessively obsessed with having babies; another envisioned working at the brand Hollister as like being stuck in a horror film. In a neat twist of fate, she met Emma through campus film circles and ultimately appearing in her directorial debut, Shiva Baby, a tense dramedy set at a religious event with hints of the Safdie brothers’ movie. The central motif of her journey, she explains, has been peers offering opportunities, instead of traditional networks. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she repeats, continuing amusedly: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”

Rising Success

Anyone who had doubts regarding her then will likely be feeling foolish now. In what she describes as a “astonishingly complete” story, she appears to achieved her dream vehicle. Previously she posted content named about Los Angeles on social media, in which she parodied film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s the co-showrunner (with her partner) of a show about LA residents managing advantages of internet fame (such as celebrating at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your friend being suspected of being a substance-abusing stealer, and possibly becoming a unreliable pariah). One might tempting to create a program about internet celebrity that was overly idealized—or, even less favorable, one that belittled at the characters. I Love LA avoids both, making for a portrait of affluent millennial existence that’s frank about the grot and the glamour.

Empathetic Approach

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