Back in 2021, unknown to each other at the time, Sabrina Brier and Rachel Zegler were both having one of the most important years of their lives. For 30-year-old Brier, at the time a Hollywood assistant, it was then that she uploaded her first video to TikTok. Four years and more than 800k followers later, Brier is a household name both on and off the app. 

Even if you’re not aware that you know her, at some point, you’ll likely have stumbled across Brier’s compulsive “That Friend” sketches. Titles like “That Friend Who Is Personally Offended By Everything” or “That Friend Who Tells Her Boyfriend Your Secrets” see Brier dressed impeccably, usually on a busy New York street, transforming the minutiae of everyday interactions between girlfriends into high-octane mini-dramas. Last year, her success led to a guest role on the wildly popular ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary as obnoxious substitute teacher “JessCa” (clips of which unsurprisingly went viral on social media). Brier’s latest venture is That Friend, an audiobook which follows an aspiring New York influencer navigating her newfound fame, featuring a star-studded cast including Nicola Coughlan, Lukas Gage, Anthony Ramos and Rachel Zegler. 

For 23-year-old Zegler, 2021 marked the release of her film debut after she was handpicked by Steven Spielberg at just 17 for his adaptation of West Side Story after applying via an open casting call. She took home the Golden Globe for Best Actress in the role. Since then, it has been non-stop success for one of Hollywood’s brightest young stars, appearing as the protagonist in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes in 2023, last year’s animated film Spellbound and A24 comedy-horror Y2K. This year, she has two major projects releasing: playing titular characters in both Disney’s live-action Snow White and the Broadway adaptation of Romeo + Juliet. 

What Brier and Zegler have in common, though (apart from both being multi-hyphenate New York It Girls), is that both credit social media in some part for their fame – in December 2018, a video of Zegler performing the song “Shallow” from the film A Star is Born went viral on X, racking up millions of views. As the pair join forces for That Friend, Brier and Zegler talk viral moments, giving up on fame and their love-hate relationship with New York City. 

Sabrina, massive congratulations on That Friend, and what a fun collaboration between you guys. How did your friendship come about? 

Sabrina Brier: I think it was Rachel commenting on an outfit of mine on Twitter (I’ll always call it Twitter, by the way). She was like, ‘Girl, you serve!’ or something like that. I obviously loved her already, so I was dying. And then we became friends online from that. But our first time being able to hang in person was actually when we recorded for That Friend over the summer. 

Rachel Zegler: We had such a great time, chatting about how life has changed for both of us in the past couple of years. Sabrina is a real, genuine soul, which is really hard to find in this industry. 

That Friend is about a girl who is trying to be a creative in New York and flitting between jobs, which both of you have some experience of. There are moments where she considers giving up – is that something you relate to?

Rachel Zegler: I don’t know if I’ve ever wanted to give up, but when I was a teenager, I was a wedding singer and auditioning for Broadway shows, and nobody wanted me. It was that classic scenario of everybody telling you how great you are and then going from being a big fish in a small pond to a small fish in a big ocean. I’d get into these rooms through people having seen me sing on my YouTube channel. But I had no agent, and I was going in there completely blind – it was terrifying. And I thought, ‘Well, maybe I’m just not as good as everybody’s been telling me I am.’ But it didn’t make me want to give up, it made me want to try harder. Although I did have moments of being like, ‘Am I going to sing at people’s weddings for the rest of my life?’ Which looking back on it, I probably would have been very content with it. It may not have been the lifestyle that I’ve cultivated now, but I really loved doing it. I think about that alternate universe a lot. 

Sabrina Brier: It’s crazy to think that Rachel even has that many stories with such a young, big break. It just goes to show how committed you’ve been for so long.

Rachel Zegler: That was the most common misconception when I landed West Side Story. There was all this online chatter of, ‘What kind of dirt does she have on people in Hollywood?’ And it was like, ‘Nothing, just hard work!’

Sabrina Brier: Yes, overnight success is not real. I was bopping around doing a million jobs and it can feel directionless and silly. At one point, I was saying hi to a fan on the street while I had the kid I was nannying. I was a seventh-floor walk-up girl for a long time; I used to say I was a princess in a tower. But then, all of a sudden, with some luck, hard work and people who believe in you, things come together. 

Like Sabrina’s character in the audiobook, social media has been a catalyst for both of your careers. We're talking just a few days after this dramatic 24-hour TikTok ban in the US. How were you both feeling about that?

Sabrina Brier: The main thing I felt was just sad for what little Sabrina or little Rachel could have been. You don’t want to feel like the internet opened a door for you, and now that door is closing for other talented people. I definitely feel privileged that I’ve already been able to parlay my internet success toward other avenues, so I felt more worried for people whose only source of income was TikTok. I can’t imagine if I had been six months into my career, and that platform had gone away. 

Rachel Zegler: I haven’t had TikTok in a while; I deleted it in 2020. But the whole thing is very scary. 

Particularly for female comedians who might not have access to the traditional old boys’ comedy clubs, TikTok can be a much more democratic entry point into the industry. 

Sabrina Brier: I completely agree. And the vast majority of influencers, in general, are women, so social media evens the playing field in ways that we don’t think about. It’s easy for older generations who are not tuned into it to think of it as something silly and not realise what an equaliser it is for so many people. 

Was there a specific moment online for you that you felt like you’d made it, that you’d ‘blown up’? 

Rachel Zegler: For me, it was definitely the Shallow video, when I was singing ‘Shallow’ on stage at my high school. 

Sabrina Brier: It’s a funny concept, and it means different things to different people. You hear it over the course of many years, and you're like, ‘Wait, did I blow up now? Did I blow up with that?’ For the goals that I have, I still feel like I’m banging on that door – I really want to be on television. But as someone who felt invisible, being a Hollywood assistant with all these dreams, for me, it was the first moment someone recognised me.

The vast majority of influencers, in general, are women, so social media evens the playing field in ways that we don't think about. It’s easy for older generations who are not tuned into it to think of it as something silly and not realise what an equaliser it is for so many people – Sabrina Brier

The character has a love-hate relationship with New York? If you guys were mayor of New York for a day, what’s one thing you would change?

Rachel Zegler: Honestly, the homeless problem is abysmal. Between here and LA, there’s just not enough being done for unhoused people. I know that’s probably more of a hard-hitting answer than you were expecting, but it’s hard not to think of that. 

Sabrina Brier: There’s a lot of dissonance in the city in that sense. Well, that can be the hard-hitting answer. And then my silly answer would be, I would have a conversation with cyclists and say, ‘Hey guys, like, I know you're on a bicycle, but you can still hurt someone. Please go a little slower?’ 

Rachel Zegler: I agree. Get off the sidewalk, there’s a bike lane! And respect the lights. 

Sabrina Brier: They’re like, ‘I’m kind of a car, but I’m kind of like a person.’ Pick one. And actually, you’re a car. 

That’s the slogan you'll run on the Brier and Zegler ticket: ‘You’re a car, 2025’. And finally, if you were to give yourself a “that friend” label, who would you be? 

Rachel Zegler: I’m that friend who gives advice that she can’t take. 

Sabrina Brier: That’s a really good one. You’re so wise beyond your years. 

Rachel Zegler: Yeah, just not when it comes to myself!

Sabrina Brier: I’m going to play off yours and say, I’m that friend who’s giving you advice when you didn't ask for it. 

Rachel Zegler: Sabrina certainly can be that drunk girl in the bathroom who is telling you how it is. 

Sabrina Brier: Yes, know thyself, know thyself. Absolutely.

Rachel Zegler: And I love it. Those are the best people in the world, by the way.

That Friend by Sabrina Brier is out now