Sennott was born on September 19, 1995 in Simsbury, Connecticut. During her freshman year of college in New York, she went to a comedy club on one of her dates. It was an “open mic” – everyone from the audience could come on stage and try their hand at it. “The guy was with me for a year, we went on a few dates and he encouraged me to do stand-up together. And that’s how it started,” she recalled in an interview with “Page Six.” “I had the lyrics ready. I still have that performance on my phone. I’ve been recording all my stand-up comedy since then.”
Sennott felt she had found her calling. She began studying acting at New York University’s Tisch School of Arts and the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. At the same time, she performed on stage and honed her comedy skills. She also tried to get her first roles. “As a teenager, I sent an e-mail to the ‘Twilight’ casting director. I thought I would be a great vampire somewhere in the background,” she laughed in the “Collider Ladies Night” videocast.
She immediately revealed how she took her first steps in show business. “I studied in New York and living in this city made me realize that I had to show myself. I started stand-up, I played in every student film that was shot, I literally went to classes in other fields (…), I wrote sketches with friends that we later recorded. I was looking for every opportunity to show myself somewhere, because (…) someone is always watching. Also talent agencies. When I signed a contract with my first manager, it turned out that he had been following my career for years.”
Success didn’t come to her immediately. “When I started performing, (…) I took part in open mics in Manhattan and many of them were simply terrible,” she recalled in an interview with the “Nylon” website. “I was the only woman there and the rest of the performers were 35-year-old guys who had come from New Jersey to joke about wanting their wife dead. It was weak and I felt like I wouldn’t do well there. Even when someone laughed, I felt like they were laughing at me, not with me.”
However, Sennott found her place in the New York alternative scene. She started running a mock Twitter account and making short skits with Ayo Edebiri, who a few years later achieved huge success thanks to the TV series “The Bear”. She performed the short “Shiva Baby” by Emma Seligman and immediately started working on its full-length version. She appeared on the small and big screen at the same time. Her career was slowly developing and the future seemed more and more promising.
The feature-length version of “Shiva Baby” was announced as one of the most interesting films in American independent cinema in 2020. The comedian and Seligman went to Los Angeles to sell their next project – a comedy “At the bottom” about a pair of lesbian friends and school losers who start a fight club for their friends. It all ended with a grotesque fight with the local football team. The actress and director met with representatives of every major studio. “We left (Los Angeles) believing that we had broken the system. Now they will definitely fight over us. Of course, everyone refused or did not respond,” she recalled in an interview with Variety.
This was not the last of the disappointments to come. “Shiva Baby” was scheduled to premiere during the SWSX festival in Texas in March 2020. However, the event was canceled due to the first wave of the pandemic. The actress held a modest premiere at home and watched the film surrounded by her loved ones.
“Shiva Baby” was screened at later festivals and later online events (including a combined edition of the New Horizons International Film Festival and the American Film Festival in 2020). The role of a student who meets her ex-girlfriend and sponsor and his wife at the wake brought her fame and great reviews. Proposals for further engagements soon appeared.
In 2022, Sennott starred in the horror comedy film “Bodies Bodies Bodies” about a group of friends who start playing the titular game during a party. One of the participants pretends to have been murdered, and the rest must determine who is responsible for the “crime”. The game ends when the host is found dead. Her role was well received. “At the bottom”, which was finally made, was also rated well. Sennott also delighted critics in the tragicomedy “The Joke’s Over.” She played the role of a young stand-up comedian who is trying to put her life back together after being attacked by the man who employs her as a nanny.
The actress’s developing career resulted in her own series for HBO. The comedy-drama “I Love LA” will focus on a group of friends living in Los Angeles and moving in celebrity circles. Sennott jokingly referred to him as “The ‘Team’ for influencers.”
Of course, nothing was without complications. A few days before HBO decided to produce the series, the comedian was detained by the border guard. She went on holiday to the Cayman Islands and substances that were legal where she lived but banned on the islands were found in her luggage. Although she did not suffer any serious consequences, the event caused her a lot of nerves. “Sometimes when you have no control over anything, the best things happen,” she told Elle when “I Love LA” got the green light.
“Originally, the pilot had more negative energy, but as I worked on the series, I became more positive about the story thanks to my friends and improving self-esteem,” she continued in her interview with Elle. Apart from her, we will also see Odessa A on the screen’zion, Jordan Firstman, True Whitaker and Josh Hutcherson. The first episode of “I Love LA” will air on November 2, 2025. The season will consist of eight episodes and will end on December 21, 2025. Does HBO have another hit that will prove to be another breakthrough in Sennott’s dynamic career? We’ll find out soon.