The actress and writer exploring the side-splitting comedy about that grotty allure of today's youth existence

The star appears on the digital interview and right away begins an excuse. “Apologies for the delay!” she states, seeming genuinely remorseful. She is only a couple of minutes late, she feels compelled 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, during an interview, that’s just what is ideal to encounter. Besides, it’s pretty unsurprising. Those familiar with her unapologetically LGBTQ+ and unapologetically crass project Bottoms—which she penned with Emma Seligman and featured in together with close companion the talented actress—would already know that Sennott holds a lot to say, ranging from about identity, relationships, or the appeal of forming a teen brawl society. And, after watching the new eight-part program I Love LA, it is clear that the star holds even more insights about the darker side of modern youth (At 30, Sennott represents a bridge of the gang, on the cusp adept for connecting different age groups).

Guiding Lights and Creative Vision

Likenesses to Lena Dunham’s Girls are inevitable and Sennott readily acknowledges enthusiastic, citing the show alongside the HBO hit, Insecure and Donald Glover’s series as inspirations for the project, which details the struggles of a social media star played by Odessa A’Zion and her friend who is also new representative Maia. However, the most significant influence on creative vision belonged to the popular sitcom, that HBO sitcom depicting a rising A-list actor succeeding in a gritty Hollywood (memorable line: “nobody’s happy in this town except for the losers”). She discovered it throughout the pandemic, became “obsessed”, and resolved 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 notes. The idea for I Love LA originated—in part—from her own, at first difficult, move to Los Angeles and from the saturn return, a popular phenomenon for enthusiasts. It was a time that saw her grasp significant insights, work-wise and in private life. “My twenties began with constant public emotional outbursts and disorganization,” she recalls. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”

Humble Origins

Raised in Connecticut, the star started creating and acting stand-up while studying acting at a prestigious arts school. “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. “Theatre productions at school also didn’t accept me. “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”

Sennott took matters into her own hands, performing at live shows with Edebiri and sharing hysterical (and distinctly) bizarre comedy videos online. One, Baby Cult, centered on a group of women obsessively obsessed with motherhood; a different one envisioned being employed at a trendy retail outlet as akin to being caught in a thriller. Interestingly, she encountered Emma through the university’s film scene and ended up appearing in her initial project, Shiva Baby, a stressful comedy set at a funeral gathering with hints of the intense thriller. The central motif of her path, she explains, has been contemporaries supporting her, instead of established gatekeepers. So, not the gatekeepers, then? “Definitely not them”, she emphasizes, adding with a laugh: “They don’t want us to win.”

Rising Success

Anyone who questioned regarding Sennott earlier will likely be regretting it currently. In what she calls a “wild, full-circle” turn of events, she appears to created the perfect project. Previously she uploaded content titled “it’s LA” online, in which she parodied film promos (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Six years on, she’s the co-showrunner (with Emma Barrie) of a show about city dwellers managing benefits of online celebrity (such as socializing at Elijah Wood’s house) with drawbacks (your friend being accused of being a intoxicated stealer, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). Some could simple to produce a series about online fame that was horribly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that mocked at its subjects. I Love LA does neither, making for a portrait of privileged millennial life that’s candid about the grot and the appeal.

Empathetic Approach

“Numerous series present younger generations and digital culture in a derogatory manner,” she observes. “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

Kristina Harrington
Kristina Harrington

A technology journalist and digital strategist with over a decade of experience covering emerging tech trends and innovations.