Ella Stiller Is A Wannabe Millennial

Ella Stiller thinks she’s “the most millennial Gen Z ever.” The 23-year-old actor discovers TikTok trends two weeks late on Instagram Reels, was raised by Y2K icons Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor, and has appeared on the Sex and the City spin-off And Just Like That....

“This is a joke I have with my friends. I identify as a millennial, yet I was born in 2002,” she tells Bustle over the phone. So it only makes sense that she landed a gig on the third season of The Comeback, Lisa Kudrow’s cult-classic HBO mockumentary series that premiered in 2005 and followed millennials into adulthood. Nine years later, the show returned in 2014 for Season 2, and this month, the series is making its final outing.

“I watched it around the time the new season was announced because people have been telling me about it my whole life,” Stiller says. “I became a total superfan. Then I got an audition, and I was freaking out.”

Stiller plays Patience, who does social media for Kudrow’s sitcom legend Valerie Cherish, shooting hours of mundane footage to grow her following and get “co-llabs,” as Val pronounces it, with everyone from Trader Joe’s to Nivea. On screen, Patience seems like your typical eye-rolling 20-something, but Stiller saw beneath her facade.

“She’s sort of unbothered, which in a way is its own Gen Z subculture — not necessarily one that I subscribe to because I am highly affected by everything,” she says. “She rolls with the punches. She’s constantly having some sort of ailment, which is its own commentary on Gen Z fragility, but she shows up to work. There is a loyalty that, to me, is really special.”

Stiller’s parents sang Kudrow’s praises before she went to set (they both guest-starred on Friends). “During the Trader Joe’s scene, Lisa took Laura [Silverman] and me around, and we got to pick out some cookies and treats,” she recalls. “It was one of those little bonding moments that was so silly. But the grocery store was open, so people were asking Lisa for pictures, and Laura and I both have family who get asked for pictures often. We looked at each other like, ‘We’re used to this.’”

Despite those inconveniences, Stiller is grateful for her mom and dad’s guidance as she paves her own way in the acting world. “I don’t think I was ever given advice, but I had a front-row seat to see how much energy and preparation go into just a single day of work,” she says while on set for her next role on CBS’s Cupertino, where she’ll get to expand her comedic chops. “We’ve been working on it for a month now, and it’s been such a joy,” she says. “It’s a legal drama, but it’s funny.”

Below, Stiller opens up about her relationship with social media, her internet pastimes, and her weirdest hobby.

The Fast Follow With Ella Stiller

How do you approach social media in real life?

If I can be myself and make connections with people whom I wouldn’t necessarily meet walking down the street, or people whom I’ve come across over the years, it’s a really great way to stay in touch. It’s also really dangerous for young women. I have a really complicated relationship with it because I’m addicted to it.

What app do you think you’ve racked up the most screen time on?

Instagram by far. A few hours, at least, per day. I’m not proud. But guess what? I got off TikTok over the winter.

Congratulations.

Thank you so much. It’s totally so different than all the Instagram Reels I’m watching, right?

What was the last post you liked on Instagram?

It was probably some sort of Aries season post because I’m an Aries. All I’m getting is compatibility with every sign in the zodiac. I’m just reading about every single relationship possible.

What is the weirdest internet rabbit hole you’ve been down?

I watch old videos of musicals and Broadway shows. I’ve seen every version of Wicked with every Fiyero, every compilation of who hit the high notes best in “Defying Gravity.”

Anytime I can watch a bootleg, I love it.

I used to be really strict about it. Growing up, I was the one who sat in the theater, and when people took out their phones, I would go, “Sir, that is illegal.”

What is the best note on your Notes app?

I wanted to remember the first joke I ever wrote, which was for a movie I wrote and directed called An Adventure Never to Forget, so it’s in my Notes app. My brother Quinn played a character named Alexander the Great III, and the final line was “And so Alexander the Great III, who really wasn’t that great or the third, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.” I was like, “Wow, I was 6 years old, and I wrote a joke that still makes me laugh out loud.”

What TV show or movie can you not stop trying to get people to watch?

The Comeback. Before I even got the audition, the second I started watching it, I was like, “Guys, this is the greatest show of all time.” And then there’s this movie I’m obsessed with on Hulu called Fresh, with Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan. No one that I talk to knows what I’m talking about. Then I make everyone watch it, and they’re like, “That’s the best movie ever.”

What’s your most quoted film or TV scene?

I quote a lot of The Family Stone, a lot of Luke Wilson’s lines, weirdly. I was literally talking to my friend the other day, and I just said, “You don’t even love her, man.” I love Diane Keaton, and she goes, “Tough sh*t.”

What’s the weirdest hobby that you’ve picked up?

It’s surprising to me that my main hobby is SoulCycle. Never would I have thought that was something I would like to do. Well, I don’t like it, but I like it after. I like the music and Taylor Swift themes.

What is the weirdest gift you’ve ever received?

A family friend made me a custom award for my performance in my high school’s production of Grease. It’s engraved on the award, “Ella Stiller as Rizzo in Grease.” It’s so funny and bizarre. It’s also the sweetest gift I’ve ever been given, and 16-year-old me was freaking out.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.