Hollywood's Bestie Owen Thiele Is Stealing The Spotlight

When I meet Owen Thiele in an art studio in East Hollywood, he admits he has 443 unread texts. It’s not because he’s “popular,” he clarifies, it’s because he has two best friend group chats. “They text nonstop, and actually it’s gotten to the point where I’ve muted the chat — and these are my best friends.”

After years of calling himself the “nepo friend,” the 28-year-old, whose BFFs include Emma Chamberlain, Sabrina Carpenter, Molly Gordon, and Cazzie David, is finally taking center stage with roles in two buzzy shows. Thiele has a recurring spot in Benito Skinner’s Overcompensating on Amazon Prime Video and is set to star in FX’s upcoming comedy Adults (produced by Nick Kroll). The latter premieres May 28 and follows a group of chaotic 20-somethings navigating post-grad life in New York City. His character, Anton, may have a 9-to-5 finance gig — a world away from Thiele’s life as an actor — but both are pros at making friends. “Once we did the pilot, the creators and writers wanted to tailor the episodes more to who we actually are as people, so mine was the ‘friend slut,’” Thiele says. “It’s so me.”

Thiele’s superpower is noticeable the minute he walks into a room. Before his shoot, the Los Angeles native gushed over photographer Tracy Nguyen’s wardrobe. But there’s nothing Regina-George coded about his compliments — they feel sincere, even if they’re a part of his friend-making strategy. “I usually find something in their outfit or appearance that I like,” he says. “Today, I made friends with Tracy because I loved her jacket, glasses, and also her nails. I’m copying everything she’s doing, and I will be going home looking like her.”

I’m still counting on Molly Gordon to cast me in her next thing.

Thiele credits his talent for connecting with others to one simple thing: He genuinely loves people. “My favorite thing as a kid was to go to a mall and sit on a bench and watch people. I love understanding where people’s minds are at, and in that way, it’s easy to relate to anyone,” he says. That extroverted habit is also what sets Thiele apart from Anton.

“Anton is a little more emotionally reserved. He struggles with being open and actually being himself, whereas I am, sadly and fortunately, an open book. How I relate to him is we both love our friends so deeply,” he says. “I believe in them so much that I will always ask to be put in their things till the day I die.”

Thiele scored his first feature film role in 2023’s Theater Camp thanks to his longtime friend Molly Gordon. “I’m still counting on Molly Gordon to cast me in her next thing,” he says, and he’s throwing it out there that a Broadway stint could be a good fit for the two besties. (“Maybe something’s brewing. No, I’m joking. I love when people in interviews hint at things, but there’s nothing brewing yet.”)

I will always be a nepo friend.

He admits his younger self would be surprised he was being interviewed and on set at a photo shoot. “That’s only for famous people,” he says, joking that he felt like Kim Kardashian when both the makeup artist and Thiele’s partner, celebrity stylist Jared Ellner, made adjustments to his look.

Growing up in Beverly Hills, it seemed Thiele was destined for the spotlight. He describes himself as the kid no one wanted at sleepovers because he’d keep everyone up until 4 a.m. ( “I was so loud and I was so annoying”). At birth, he was adopted by music producer Bob Thiele Jr. and Amy Kanter, whom he talks about often on his podcast, In Your Dreams (“When Jared goes out of town, my mom sleeps over... she’s my best friend in the world — I’m obsessed with her”). His parents sent him to some of the best performing arts schools in LA, including Crossroads School, with alumni like Gwyneth Paltrow and Jack Black. Gordon and Thiele even met as young kids at a theater program. (“I just remember witnessing this very special and strange 3-year-old who just had the voice of an absolute angel and was the funniest person alive,” Gordon said on an Oct. 11 episode of In Your Dreams.)

Even now, as he’s on the verge of becoming a TV star, Thiele feels more comfortable in a supporting role: “I will always be a nepo friend.” Starring in Adults and Overcompensating, and hosting his podcast under Alex Cooper’s Unwell network, haven’t changed how he feels. “I was exactly the same as a kid as I am now,” he says.

The one noticeable difference: His schedule is filling up. But Thiele doesn’t mind. “I’m liking it so far. I’m tired. I don’t sleep, but it’s all good,” he says. The lack of REM cycles is fitting for Thiele, whose podcast is all about staying up late and chatting with his celebs. Past guests include Geraldine Viswanathan, Rachel Sennott, Emma Chamberlain, and Benny Blanco, whom Thiele counts as his close friends. He mentions texting the record producer to invite him to the Adults premiere in LA on May 20. Despite being nervous to ask, Blanco was quick to say “yes” and replied that he’d arrive 10 minutes early. That’s how eager people are to hang out with Hollywood’s favorite BFF.

Next on the horizon, Thiele is working with Ilana Glazer on his semi-autobiographical comedy for Amazon, Off-Color. “I just love Ilana Glazer so much, so I was studying her accidentally on set,” he says of watching Broad City while filming Adults. Once his inspiration, now Thiele considers the Babes star a role model and mentor during the development process of the series, which is based on Thiele’s adopted family and is executive produced by Glazer with Shrinking’s Brian Gallivan as showrunner. Thiele teases they’ve still got some time before any production happens. “We are chugging along,” he says. “Development takes a long time. I didn’t realize this. It takes two years to make anything.”

In the meantime, Thiele has Adults to look forward to, and he hopes the audience feels good while watching it. “The shows that I love so much, like Hacks and The Other Two, make you laugh and want to hug your friends. I want Adults to do the same thing,” he says.

After watching all eight episodes (they drop on Hulu the next day), you may feel yourself wanting to join Thiele’s long list of friends, which now includes his Adults co-stars. Their characters play longtime besties on screen, but Thiele and the rest of the cast met for the first time on set in Toronto, Canada. “It was the five of us who didn’t know each other, and we were all faking being best friends. But then we actually became best friends, and now I can’t live without them,” he says.

Before shooting the pilot, the cast, which includes Malik Elassal (Samir), Lucy Freyer (Billie), Jack Innanen (Paul Baker), and Amita Rao (Issa), spent weeks together in Canada, bonding. “Every day was a party, and I lost my voice a lot on set because I was screaming and laughing so much that I had to ADR [re-record dialogue] a lot of lines,” Thiele recalls.

The group continues to keep in touch via a group chat — and while that’s not ideal for Thiele (see: those unread texts), he’s been active in the chat lately. The last text he sent in the Adults group chat? A billboard of the show’s poster in the Westwood neighborhood of LA.

“It’s a few blocks from where I grew up, and I would drive by this billboard spot going to and from school,” Thiele says. “I remember looking up and seeing all these different amazing movies and shows go up, and now Adults is there.” That’s been his biggest “pinch me” moment so far. “I sobbed for days.”