"Girls" Star Zosia Mamet on Bad Relationships & Great Books

You like someone enough that you have a terrible sexual encounter, but like, you wanna keep it going.

Hey everyone, Nikki Novak here in the Young Hollywood Studio with the star of the hit show Girls, Sasha Millet.

Hi.

I'm obsessed with Girls. I'm obsessed.

I'm so happy that you like it.

Love it. Hey. A little bird told me that you are getting an STD test. Fun. Do you really think that sounds like a lot of fun? I mean, like just to get to have sex and then have a test about it. This thing asks you if you wear a seat belt and if you operate machinery. Those are important things. If you're gonna have a baby, you need to wear a seatbelt and stop operating machinery. And I heard that when you auditioned for it, that you sent in a tape but you were really, really sick.

I did. I was terribly ill. I had pneumonia.

And you were working though. You were working on a film.

I was. I was working on a film. Um, in Upstate New York in the middle of nowhere and their country doctor told me that I had a cold.

Wait a second, their country doctor.

There was like one doctor in the whole town. And like the whole, it's like not even a town. It's like the middle of nowhere. And they brought her in and then she was she like listened to like the flem rattling in my lungs and she was like, "You have a cold." And I was like, "I think I have pneumonia." Um, and I, yeah, I sent in a tape. Never thought I would get the job. Totally did. Uh, Totally did. When, yeah. Apparently, here I am. Apparently. They tell me I did. I don't know.

I've heard stories from other actors where they say, "I never thought I was going to get this job." because I either I was so hungover I was just trying to keep from throwing up. Right. Or and I wonder if sometimes that does that take the pressure off sometimes?

I don't know. It's like the day that you go on when you're like not really into the dude, he's probably gonna fall in love with you. Cuz like there's just something, there's a like you there's like, just like a it. You know, attitude. Like I literally did that tape being like, "This would be amazing. I'm never getting this part."

What is it with the guys that you don't care about? They love you.

And they love you. And it becomes annoying when they're nice to you. I don't know. It's terrible. It's a terrible thing.

It's so hard to watch that cuz you're like, "If only you loved him back." This would be perfect.

Yes. But she doesn't and it's not actually terrible.

Well, the show there it's so real. And I know you were saying before we start rolling about how people have come up to you and said, "It's too real." Sometimes some people, I think, have found it to. But um, it's really nice to hear you say that. I mean, that's really what we I think that's what Lena was driving for in general. And then we all really tried to just like uphold that.

She's obsessed with getting AIDS. She's thought she was going to have it since she was like 10 years old. So that's what this is about. I'm not obsessed with fear of AIDS. I'm obsessed with fear of HIV that turns into AIDS. I'm not a fool.

Well, you don't have HIV. You just don't. It's not that easy to contract.

It's like really not that hard to contract either though. Like haven't you seen Rent? Please. I've seen it like 12 times. It's basically why I moved to New York.

What was like one of the more uncomfortable scenarios or really, really real scenarios for you to watch? Cuz another one for me was the body massage, the boss. And then he preempts it by saying, Oh, I'm like I'm really touchy.

Yes. I'm just a touchy person. I'm sorry I touched your chest. Um, I watched the pilot with a bunch of my girlfriends uh or just like a bunch of friends in general. And I think one of the worst things, or watching a bunch of other people watch it, was the scene where she has that terrible sexual encounter with her like semi-boyfriend. And it's like awful and so awkward and she's like talk doing like this thing. And then it cuts to afterwards where she's like, "That was really nice." And everybody in the room was like, "Oh, God." And I think because like inevitably someone had experienced that where like, you like someone enough that you have a terrible sexual encounter, but like, you wanna keep it going. So you make up in your brain that it was really great. You know?

One thing I read about you is that you're a huge bookworm. Is that true?

I am. It is true.

You actually didn't watch TV growing up.

I didn't really watch TV growing up.

Did you watch Sex in the City? Cause your character is like,

I did watch Sex and the City. Okay. Um, I did. Growing up. Um, I did watch that, I think, a little too young cuz my older sister was watching it. Um, I actually was talking to someone else the other day about like what I used to watch as a young kid. And like, um, I remember her babysitting me once and when I was like 10 and watching Boogie Nights and being like, this is really good. I don't understand it. Um, but it's good.

So bookworm. Three books that girls out there have to read. Do you have any recommendations?

My house is literally covered in books. Um, okay. Three books that I'm really obsessed with right now. I just read this book called Rebecca, which is actually my favorite Hitchcock movie, but it's based off this book that was written by this woman Daphne Du Maurier. And it's so good. Um, and sort of along the same lines of like old school thrillers. Okay. Um, there was this writer named Mary Elizabeth Braddon who wrote like all of these really incredible thrillers. And she wrote this one called Lady Audley's Secret, which is like Aces. I just read, which I never read before, To Have and Have Not, which was like a Hemingway, Hemingway. Like never read. Which is totally different from the movie. Nothing like it at all. Right. Um, really good, really depressing. He's obviously like on a bender when he wrote it. Um, but super solid. And I would sug It's like obviously a rather it's like a less known one, but very good.

Well, thank you so much for coming in.

Yeah. Thank you so much.

And Girls. Lead. And watch your show.

Yay.