NEED TO KNOW
OK Boomer… you really are OK!
Twin Peaks and Sex and the City actor Kyle MacLachlan, who has become a social media darling over the past four years, is now hosting the podcast What Are We Even Doing? where he interviews Millennial and Gen Z creators about their lives, careers and paths to success.
The impetus? A true curiosity to learn more about younger generations.
“It was really about trying to look backwards in a way, and understand different generations — Gen Z, young millennials — and get a sense of what they were about, what was important to them,” MacLachlan, 66, tells PEOPLE.
“I said, I don’t really know what is happening with the younger generation, and I don’t want to be one of those people that turns a blind eye to that… I don’t want to be one of those people that sort of drops out, so it was in part a process of discovery for me, and also a way to stay current.”
He says the iHeart Media show, which airs every Tuesday, was also partly driven by his own Gen Z kid, son Callum, 17, whom he shares with his wife, producer Desiree Gruber.
Full Picture Productions
“I think he mostly approves,” Maclachlan says of Callum’s thoughts on dad’s musings on Instagram, and the podcast. “But I also don’t think he thinks a lot about what I’m doing. He has his own thing going on with his friends.”
So what has he learned so far from Gen Z guests like actress Rachel Sennott, comedian John Early, and model and actress Kaia Gerber?
For starters, they work really hard.
“Pretty much unanimously, all the interviews I’ve done, you realize how hard these people work,” he says. “They’re not relying on somebody who’s lording over them or has more power. It’s strictly up to the individual to create and post their personalities, and there’s a real clamoring for authenticity… this is who they are.”
They’re also very accepting of others. “When I was growing up, there was an expectation of you in the business — you’re a young leading man and you’re going to act a certain way. Now people accept you in a much fuller way somehow, which I find so refreshing,” he says. “Gen Z are curious and kind.”
He adds, “Social media has sort of allowed me to let a side of myself out. I have a very silly side, very irreverent side, that is able to come out now,”
As for his advice for Gen-X or Boomers or anyone still scared of technology? He says don’t be — let your curiosity guide you.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“You have to be able to move with the times,” he says. “But I’d also encourage anyone not to fear things like TikTok — it takes a little bit of an effort, but once you start engaging, it becomes easier. And maybe there’s something that you want to say, something to communicate — whether it’s to a couple friends on a private thing, or to the general public. Don’t be afraid of it.”
New episodes of What Are We Even Doing? drop Tuesdays wherever you get your podcasts.
