osia Mamet was determined to make a podcast about horses. The problem?
Blue Apron midrolls don’t perform so hot when your core audience is either affluent enough to employ a personal Erewhon shopper or too young to hold a serrated knife unsupervised. She needed something with broader appeal.
down the
rabbit hole with
zosia mamet
The Girls alum talks new podcast OMG Obsessed, Industry season 5, and the enduring allure of Shoshanna Shapiro.
Z
“Everybody was like, ‘Horses are your obsession. Not the masses’ obsession,” the actress laughs from what looks to be her bedroom floor. She’s currently working in the UK, but meets with me over Zoom to discuss her latest career endeavors, including her new podcast OMG Obsessed, which releases new episodes weekly on Wednesdays on YouTube and across podcast platforms.
With equestrian audio off the table, her friend and coworker, comedian Cat Cohen, came to her rescue. “Cat was like, ‘What if you had guests on to talk about whatever their niche obsession is? What is their horses?’” And that’s how the podcast was born.”
Mamet knows she’s far from the first celebrity to enter the highly-saturated podcasting space (some of her favorites include Good Hang with Amy Poehler and Smartless), but she hopes the hook of exploring unique hyperfixations will break through the noise. In the first batch of episodes, listeners can expect a diverse array of deep dives, from Pilates to vintage furniture. “I have a friend who is a witch and an exceptional tarot card reader, and she has been trying to teach me how to read. That’s one that I think is going to take up a lot of my algorithm very, very soon.”
Since rising to fame in her breakout role of Shoshanna Shapiro on Girls in 2012, Mamet can probably get interviewed on autopilot — grueling press days, glitzy late-night appearances, and answering inane questions like, “Would you rather have a gay son or a thot daughter?” without rolling her eyes have been part of the deal for the better part of her adult life. Flipping the script, however, was unexpectedly challenging: “I was really surprised by how exhausting it is to lead someone,” Mamet reveals. “I found the craft of learning how to bob and weave when someone gets off topic or a subject isn't hitting was a type of agility that I didn’t have yet. So the first couple of episodes felt like a bit of trial and error.”
She admires how veteran hosts like Seth Meyers have an innate ability to set up their guests for success — “they crack you open and elevate you to the best storyteller version of yourself.” But sometimes, it simply comes down to chemistry between host and guest. “It’s like when you’re at a dinner party, and with the person on your right you have nothing to talk about, but the person on your left you totally hit it off with. It’s about learning how to create a great episode with both those types of people.”
One upcoming guest where Mamet won’t have to worry about unlocking chemistry is Girls creator Lena Dunham, who is set to record with Mamet the day after we speak. Surprisingly, Mamet admits she has yet to read Dunham’s unmissable 2026 memoir Famesick, which features Dunham’s candid reflections on shooting the legendary series.
“I haven’t read it yet because I feel like that period of time is so special to me. It sort of feels like when you make a time capsule box when you’re a kid, and you bury it in your backyard. I’m not ready to dig it up yet. It feels too precious. But I will read it. I love and adore Lena, and her writing is above and beyond, but I was like, ‘I think I need to keep that in the time capsule for a little longer.’”
Mamet says coming out of Girls nearly ten years ago “felt like the cold light of day.” The cast spent nearly their entire twenties ensconced in a comfortable bubble of familiarity — “You get so spoiled when you’re working with the same people for so long, and you develop this creative shorthand. It feels like this wonderful, cozy world that you’re living within.” Almost on cue, Mamet’s adorable dog Frankie pops into frame. “Let me see if I can capture her,” she says, pulling her onto her lap. “Sorry, can you repeat the question?”
The actress has been selective about the choices she’s made since she said goodbye to Shoshanna. She brought a standout supporting performance to the Kayley Cuoco-led thriller-comedy The Flight Attendant, starred as an insecure noblewoman navigating courtship and The Black Death in the cult hit Netflix miniseries The Decameron, and will appear alongside Andrew Garfield in the hotly anticipated Luca Guadagnino feature Artificial, chronicling the rise of OpenAI’s controversial figurehead, Sam Altman.
“I like to be a little bit scared,” Mamet says of how she chooses between the myriad of scripts and opportunities that come her way. “If I'm a little bit afraid of a role or a project, it means I haven't done it yet, which means it's going to force me to stretch or use a muscle that I haven't used. And that to me is the most thrilling part of what I do. It feels a little bit like standing on the edge of a cliff.”
“I was really surprised by how exhausting it is to lead someone. . .
the first couple of episodes felt a bit like trial and error.”
Mamet was approached with an “exclusive offer to audition” for the role, meaning she was the primary candidate the team had in mind. “I was horribly nervous. I was like, ‘Oh my God. If I don’t get this part, I really sucked,” she recalls.
While she’s a massive fan of the Gen Z Succession successor, Mamet can’t pick a favorite character. “They’re all so exceptionally lovable, yet so flawed. That is one of the high-wire acts this show accomplishes that is a near-impossible feat — you care for and are curious about and invested in all of the characters, yet they do all these abhorrent things and are oftentimes very bad people. It’s the secret sauce to the show.”
I ask Mamet if among all these opportunities she finds herself searching for her next Shoshanna — the next career-defining role, the next peak to summit. “I don't create backstories for a character. I don't imagine their internal lives beyond the world that is given to me on the page. I don't think about them after a job is done,” she explains.
“For whatever reason, Shoshanna just exists as this separate entity, and I am so happy for that to be singular to her. She’s a one-of-one.”
BY EMMA SHARPE | PUBLISHED ON SEPTEMBER 18, 2026
It’s been a buzzy couple of months for Mamet, who is fresh off an electric guest role in the critically acclaimed FX sitcom Adults. She appeared in the season two finale as the cold-blooded daughter of the aging HOA president in the main cast’s Queens neighborhood, curtly delivering the barb, “You think you’re the first ones to be young and adorable in New York?” in direct homage to her roots.
“I spent the entire week laughing so hard. . .They were asking me about [Girls], and it was so interesting talking about both of our experiences and how they were similar and how they were different. It definitely made me nostalgic,” she says of the experience. “I would love to go back and work on that show again.”
After successfully passing the torch to the next generation of raunchy television New Yorkers, Mamet made waves when she announced she’ll star in the fifth and final season of HBO’s hit psycho-sexual-financial drama Industry. She’ll portray the role of Carmen Dame, a “fitness influencer turned wellness tech founder and CEO.” Mamet says she’ll be “murdered” if she shares any details beyond that, but I’m already having visions of Wishbone Kitchen meets Cersei Lannister.
FX/ADULTS
“I like to be a little bit scared. . .
That to me is the most thrilling part of what I do. It feels a little bit like standing on the edge of a cliff."
ROBYN VON SWANK
ROBYN VON SWANK