Owen Thiele Lives for the Applause

You’ve been having a moment—this summer, you’ve costarred in two buzzy new comedy shows, Overcompensating and Adults. This follows your breakout role in another comedy, 2023’s Theater Camp, alongside Molly Gordon and Ben Platt.

I was very lucky that the first big thing I did was a movie with all of my best friends. I got spoiled from that experience. I left thinking, I will only work with my friends—and that’s just impossible. But when Benny [Benito Skinner, the creator of Overcompensating] cast me, I was again with friends who I’ve known for years.

There are so many moments in Adults, a show about 20-somethings in New York that’s been described as Gen Z’s Friends, that are wild and far-fetched. Is there a particular scene that’s really stuck with you?

There’s one where a character is pulling out physical cards to be a VIP. She’s flashing all of these cards, like the “woman card.” I was like, I wish I could pull out my gay and Black and Jewish card at any point—which, by the way, I just did in this interview.

Were there any people that you looked to as references for your character, George, in Overcompensating?

I play the gay mentor. I never had that growing up. It was interesting to play what I would like a gay mentor to be to me—somebody who wanted to see your nudes, but also was a true and honest friend and would give you great advice. That’s what I would’ve wanted in high school when I was coming out.

You have a podcast called In Your Dreams, where you chat with guests like Kaia Gerber, Halsey, and Brittany Snow in your bed.

I try to get them in bed so they can tell me their secrets. The whole bit of my podcast—which isn’t a bit, very unfortunately for me—is that I don’t sleep. I sleep two hours a night. I used to turn over and tap my boyfriend and ask him to talk to me and entertain me at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. Eventually, he was like, “You need to find a different outlet.” And luckily, Alex Cooper [of Call Her Daddy] somehow wanted me to do a podcast. She was like, “You should do this during the night so your boyfriend doesn’t break up with you.” The first guest was my friend Emma Chamberlain. I said, “You have to come at 3 a.m., because that’s when I record.” She was like, “This is unsustainable, but I’m going to do it for you.” It just stuck. And now my guests come at weird hours—they’re all tired and groggy, and they don’t want to be there, and I’m very lucky that they are. It’s been really fun, and it’s keeping my personal relationships alive, because I’m not calling my mom at 4 a.m.

You’re working on a pilot for a series loosely based on your own life called Off Color, with Ilana Glazer. How did that collaboration come about?

My first year of college, I was so homesick, because I am obsessed with my family and I was across the country. The only thing to calm me down was an episode of her show Broad City. Years later, to work with Ilana is a dream—and I don’t say that lightly. My joke is: Never meet your idols, except for Ilana Glazer.

Did you always want to be an actor?

I always wanted to be a performer. I was the kid who would stand up on the table and do a routine in front of all my parents’ friends. They would be having a very serious dinner party, and I would walk in with a boa, half-naked. If they didn’t give me a standing ovation for hours, I would cry. I wanted a Cannes Film Festival clap. I wanted a 15-minute clap after a horrible rendition of “I’m a Slave 4 U.” That’s what I wanted. And it’s never left.

Grooming by Nadia Tayeh for Danessa Myricks at A-Frame Agency. retouching: Picturehouse + Small Dark Room; Fashion Assistants: Mia Fonte, Brooke Figler; Special Thanks to Pieces BaR.