The disarmingly charming Adults actor&nbsp;has a packed slate, a passport to find, and absolutely no interest in taking a vacation.

PHOTOGRAPHY Danny Kasirye
STYLED BY Jared Ellner

“I am so deeply sorry,” Owen Thiele apologizes profusely before he even says hello. The 29-year-old actor has had a busy week since our New York shoot—his hit FX series Adults premiered its second season, sending Thiele and his castmates into nonstop press. After pushing our call back 10 minutes—a nothingburger in the world of scheduling celebrity interviews—he’s on his way to the airport when he explains the delay. “In typical Owen fashion, I lost my passport an hour before I’m supposed to get on a flight,” he sighs. “A literal disaster.”
It’s the kind of dramatic declaration that could just as easily come from Thiele’s fan-favorite&nbsp;Adults character, Anton, the charming, boundaryless friend in the series about a group of twenty-something roommates. “I’m promoting a show about full-fledged adults who could not act more like children,” he says. “So life has to imitate art.”
The lines between Thiele and Anton are, admittedly, blurred. Take the character’s habit of filling awkward silences by doling out misguided advice to strangers. “I’m not comfortable in silence at all,” says Thiele. “I would definitely give someone unsolicited advice, say something I didn’t mean, and then they’d probably take it to heart and change their entire life.” He, too, is chronically online (his daily screen time is “a dark and scary number”) and was taken to too many dinner parties as a child. “I liked being around grownups at a very young age, and it was always fun for me to have adult conversations with my parents’ friends,” he says. “But I was never mature. I’m still not.”

Shirt, pants, tie, belt, and shoes SAINT LAURENT BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO

Growing up with music-producer parents in Beverly Hills, Thiele did think he was famous. “I would walk around in sunglasses when I was six years old and tell my family,&nbsp;No pictures, please,” he recalls. “I thought I was Lindsay Lohan on Rodeo Drive—that was my energy.” Now, he’s drawing on his experience growing up Black and gay in a white Jewish adopted family for Off Color, a semi-autobiographical comedy series in development at Amazon, with Ilana Glazer executive producing. “I’m praying that if we have Ilana Glazer involved, it’ll be one percent of what Broad City was,” he says of the “pinch-me” experience.
With&nbsp;Off Color, Molly Gordon’s A24 comedy Peaked, Netflix’s 13 Going on 30 reboot, and Season 2 of his queer college comedy Overcompensating on the horizon—not to mention his podcast In Your Dreams with Owen Thiele—Thiele has plenty to look forward to. “I kind of am living the dream,” he says. Still, he’s eager to branch out. “I would love to do a Broadway musical,” says Thiele, who sang on the 2023 Theater Camp soundtrack and appeared in his longtime friend Taylor Swift’s “The Man” and “You Need to Calm Down” music videos. “It sounds absolutely insane and daunting and crazy and scary and ridiculous, but I’m putting it out there.” He’s got another ambition, too. “I want to manifest a role that does not feel at all like me, someone that I couldn’t relate to if I tried,” he says. “And I really want to play an unlikable character. I need my villain arc.”

Jackets, shirt, pants, and hat AMI PARIS

L’OFFICIEL: You’ve been on a major upswing since Adults and Overcompensating premiered within weeks of each other in May 2025. Has it felt like you’ve been going nonstop?
OWEN THIELE: There have been very few breaks, but it doesn’t feel that way. Every project I’m on is built around friendship. [Overcompensating creator and star] Benito Skinner would have no time to hang out with me if I wasn’t on his show. I feel very grateful to be a part of this community where my friends are getting their flowers. We’re all chugging along, throwing shit against the wall to see if it sticks. And whenever something doesn’t stick, we’re there to help each other through it.
L’O: Given the number of projects coming your way now, how do you decide which ones are worth signing on for?
OT: Anything is worth signing onto if you learn from it. Brett Haley, the director of 13 Going on 30, is a genius who I’ve always wanted to work with. And I begged Molly Gordon to be in Peaked. She’s my best friend but I’m also interested in watching how she directs. I’m very much a yes man. I say yes to way too many things...my agents are like, Hey, we’ve never had to do this, but we’ve had to take off nine projects that you signed up for because they’re all in different places. L’O: Speaking of Peaked, what can we expect?
OT: I think it’s going to be very, very funny. And I’m not saying I’m going to be funny—I think what Molly and [co-star] Emma [Mackey] have done is brilliant. Molly and Allie Levitan wrote it, and we all went to Crossroads together and were in the school’s conservatory theater program. So coming back together felt like going back to school.

Top, pants, belt, shoes, and bag PRADA

L’O: You’re also starring in the much-anticipated 13 Going on 30 remake. What was that experience like?
OT: Jennifer Garner and Judy Greer are back, and Emily Bader and Logan Lerman lead this film with grace. They’re funny, charming, and hot. The script had me laughing and&nbsp;crying.&nbsp;There’s so much pressure on any sequel or remake, but I hope people can let the original 13 Going on 30 remain iconic, and allow this one to be iconic in its own way.
L’O: Your profile seemed to rise overnight. From seeing your face on subway ads to being recognized on the streets of New York during our shoot, how have you adjusted to this new level of fame?
OT: Fame, in quotations. I don’t think I’m famous at all. People who listen to my podcast feel like we’re friends, and I’m lucky to be part of two shows that I would watch. Anton, especially, is very knowable—a friend slut who wants to be invited to his neighbor’s dog’s birthday. It’s exciting to play a character like that. And I would have devoured Overcompensating as a gay college student. I’m really grateful that a queer Black man can be as many places as I am.
L’O: You seem remarkably sure of who you are and what you want. Has that always come naturally to you?
OT: [Laughs] Has it always been a burden to be so uniquely...you? Yeah. I always wanted to act. When I figured out that I could act and write, that changed everything. Watching Girls for the first time, I couldn’t believe Lena Dunham had created, directed, and starred in the same project. It was mind-blowing. Then I learned the word auteur. The auteurs of my generation, like Ilana Glazer, are geniuses. I’m not quite there, but I do love writing and acting.
L’O: It sounds like you might have some interest in directing, too.
OT: I think I want to do that. I love imagery, aesthetics, shapes. It sounds like I should be a photographer. When I take pictures of my friends, I’m always curating and directing. Maybe I’m ultimately a professional Instagrammer. Or maybe I’m a director. Who knows?

L’O: How are you approaching letting audiences into your private world with Off Color? Where do you draw the line?
OT: I have a podcast, so the line is pretty much nonexistent—a dotted line that’s disintegrated over time. Writing some of these scenes is therapeutic, though. I’m constantly re-falling in love with people in my family who I rarely see. I’m like, You’re a hilarious comedy character. My parents are in on the joke, but I’ve tried to not ask some other family members’ advice on the project. I know they’ll be upset that Teyana Taylor isn’t playing them, and I’m like, No, you’re white [Laughs]
L’O: It’s been almost a decade since your first role in Cazzie David’s web series Eighty-Sixed. What’s it like looking back on where you started?
OT: That was the first time an actual big camera was in my face, and I loved it. Cazzie’s amazing—she sparked something in me, and working with her was a dream. I hope we can do it again one day...maybe soon. I cannot believe it’s been almost 10 years. That is terrifying and makes me feel ancient. Happy 10 years, Eighty-Sixed. Love you, girl
L’O: You turn 30 in November. Is there anything in your 20s you’re ready to leave behind?
OT: Pretending to be in school. I dropped out of NYU [in 2015], but I thought even at my age now, I’d still be telling people,&nbsp;I’m taking a leave of absence.

Jacket, pants, collar, and shoes DIOR

L’O: How do you think your style has evolved over time?
OT: Before, I was doing the most. I wanted to try things, which is fun when it feels like art. But my everyday style is jeans and a white T-shirt. I have so many other anxieties in my life that I actually can’t think about my everyday style. I do have [longtime boyfriend and celebrity stylist] Jared Ellner in the house, though, so at least the jeans that I wear every single day are tailored. There are some days where I actually sneak out of the house because I’m like, If he sees what I’m wearing, he will break up with me.&nbsp;
L’O: On a typical jeans-and-a-T-shirt day, what are you doing?
OT: Probably getting five matchas and editing a podcast. A lot of watching myself back to make sure I’m not saying anything cancelable. My favorite thing in the world is to go out to dinner with friends, watch a movie or TV show, and get into bed early. I sleep less than I should, but just being horizontal means the world to me.
L’O: You’re close with some of the most talked-about people in pop culture—Taylor Swift, Hailey Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter—and you’ve jokingly called yourself a “nepo friend.” What have you learned from being in their orbit?
OT: They’ve all given me unbelievable advice about navigating this world, starting with just staying true to yourself. And when you so want to pander, so don’t. Being around them has taught me that I have to be uniquely me—even if some people find it annoying or off-putting. That’s actually a good thing, because it means you’re doing something right or different.
L’O:&nbsp;If Taylor asked you to be in another music video, how quickly would you say yes?
OT: Faster than anything. This is me, right now, saying yes.
L’O: You really are a yes man. Hopefully, now that you’ve found your passport, you can take a vacation and relax a little.
OT: Oh my god, I don’t need that. I’d rather work.&nbsp;

GROOMING: Alexa Hernandez
BARBER: Danny Espinal
CREATIVE PRODUCER: Emily Adar
DIGITAL TECH: Mike Skigen&nbsp;
STYLING ASSISTANTS: Brooke Figler, Lauren Garcia, and Sara Jameson

Owen Thiele Is Ready for His Villain Arc

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