If you're not among the hordes of chronically online Gen Z-ers, you might not have heard of Owen Thiele. However, the up-and-coming young actor currently starring in TV shows “Overcompensating” and “Adults” is also in the process of creating a Jewish comedy series for Amazon, and he’s set to become a household name.
The 28-year-old Thiele, born in Houston, Texas, was adopted as a baby by Jewish parents Bob Thiele Jr – a musician and producer known for working with artists like Bette Midler and Ray Charles – and Amy Kanter. A black child in a white family, Thiele said he grew up in “very white spaces” but told Vanity Fair: “I never felt different in my family, which is a beautiful thing.”
Thiele went to a private school in California, where he developed a number of celebrity connections (not least befriending Larry David’s daughters Romy and Cazzie) before attending New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts for just a month. His early renown came thanks to the internet, from a web series collab with Cazzie, to making YouTube videos with internet star Emma Chamberlain, to an appearance in Taylor Swift’s music video her single “The Man”.
Thiele has since been popping up seemingly everywhere. He’s taken on bit roles in Tim Robinson’s I Think You Should Leave and HBO Max’s Hacks, and appeared in the 2023 mockumentary Theatre Camp created by and starring his friends, Jewish actors Molly Gordon (The Bear) and Ben Platt (Dear Evan Hansen). In addition to hosting his own podcast on Alex Cooper’s Unwell network, Thiele's latest and most prominent roles, including a supporting turn in Prime Video’s Overcompensating and a starring role in the FX comedy Adults, have revealed his capabilities as a scene-stealing comedian.
Though it is unclear how Thiele’s Judaism manifests in his cultural or religious identity, it has certainly played a part in inspiring his own upcoming show Off Color, which is based on his life as a black adoptee to white parents.
The description of the semi-autobiographical series, which will star Jewish actresses Susie Essman (Curb Your Enthusiasm) and Ilana Glazer (Broad City), reads: “He’s gay and Black, they’re all Jewish, his mom should be on ‘Real Housewives’ and his cousin’s a former party girl turned rabbi-in-training. The comedy is about a son who doesn’t want to grow up, a mother who has no intention of letting him, and a dad who’s probably faking a nap in the other room so he doesn’t have to engage.”
Sounds like a winner to us.
