Owen Thiele Details How Being an 'Annoying Guest' at a Dinner Party with Alex Cooper Launched His Career (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Owen Thiele.Photo:Gilbert Flores/getty

Gilbert Flores/getty

Owen Thieleis talking his way to the top.

Speaking exclusively with PEOPLE, Thiele opens up about his early beginnings and how a dinner party ended up launching his podcasting career.

“As Larry David would say, I was middling the table,” Thiele recalls. “I was being the annoying guest that was hogging all the attention. And Alex (Cooper) was like, ‘Wow, you should do this for a living.’”

Thiele tells PEOPLE that creating his podcast has been the “most fun experience” because he’s doing what he loves most — talking.

‘In Your Dreams’ podcast with Owen Thiele.unwell network

unwell network

As the title suggests, the podcast follows Thiele, an “undiagnosed insomniac,” having conversations with star-studded guests in the wee hours of the morning, resulting in some interesting conversations.

In the first few episodes, he has featured famous friends such asEmma ChamberlainandCazzie David, but the most rewarding part for him has been having real conversations. Though he thought he knew everything about close companions likeMolly GordonandRachel Sennott, he learned even more about them on the podcast.

“There’s new things that you unlock in your friendship, so that’s been really, really fun,” he says.

While some of his guests are reluctant to film so early in the morning, he tries to convince as many of them as possible as a self-described night owl himself.

“I’m so awake at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. or even 5 a.m., so that’s when I love to record,” he says. “I’m kind of peak Owen at that time.”

He’s also having fun creating solo episodes about his relationship with fashion designerJared Ellner, who stylesSabrina Carpenter.

“It’s kind of like a diary for me,” he says of his podcast. “I can just speak into the void.”

Thiele recently appeared inA Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter, whom he gushes is one of his"all-time favorite” artists right next toTaylor Swift.

“I am obsessed with her,” Thiele said of the “Feather” singer. “Being anywhere near her is like, I faint and cry, and I ugly snot. It is such an honor.”

He notes it’s an added plus that his partner works with the singer on the regular, calling their collaboration “beautiful” as they make “brilliant” and “creative” choices together.

“It’s really cool that that my partner is working with somebody that I’m that I’m such a fan of,” he continues. “It makes me emotional. They’re two creative forces that have somehow found each other.”

Owen Thiele.Chelsea Gehr

Chelsea Gehr

Another person Thiele admires is his close friendAlex Cooper, who he says was a guiding light as he started his podcast under her Unwell Network.

“She’s so skilled at it that it always seems so purposeful, and with me, it just felt like I was just speaking about nothing,” he says of how Cooper helped him. “I asked her if I was going down the right path at all, and she very kindly said, ‘Yes, do what you do,’ which is talk like you didn’t take your ADHD medication, and hopefully it reaches people.”

He adds that Cooper is incredibly creative and wise, so he takes any advice he can get from her.

“I’m like, can we do this for the rest of our lives? I want to be 90 with Alex Cooper, holding hands, doing podcasts,” he jokes.

Owen Thiele at the 2023 ‘Variety’ Power of Young Hollywood event.Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic

Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic

Looking toward the future, Thiele wants to continue to build his audience and hone his podcasting skills.

“If somebody likes [In Your Dreams] or laughs at it, that’s that’s all I need,” he says.

One ofIn Your Dreams’ current biggest fans is Thiele’s mom — his “best friend in the world” — who he says sends him paragraphs with her thoughts after listening to each episode.

She also encourages Thiele to stay true to himself amid his rise to fame.

“She’s just always been like, ‘Please continue to be yourself. It’ll work in some way or another. If you’re in finance or a podcaster or whatever you end up doing, at least you’ll have you,’” he says.

source: people.com