I know Gillian Jacobs from Community, where she played activist screwup Britta, a character who had just enough knowledge to assume she was right but not enough to know what she was doing. Britta so predictably botched everything that they turned her name into the verb “brittaed,” as in “you really brittaed that up.” Jacobs is a talented comedic actress and I’ve always had the impression that she was as confident offscreen as she came across while delivering deadpan lines.

She’s starring in the upcoming Netflix show Love, directed by Judd Apatow, which premieres on February 19th. It’s already been renewed for a second season. Jacobs, 33, plays another character who doesn’t have her sh*t together, and in a new interview with Bustle she explained that she’s grown a lot personally but can really relate. She said that she feels like a fraud sometimes and doesn’t understand why people put faith in her. This made me sad to read, but I’m almost 10 years older than she is and am in the “I don’t care” phase. I think I could have related to this when I was in my early 30s. Here’s some of what she said.

On starring in her own show
“I’m trying not to always let on how nervous I am, to appear more confident than I actually feel. Because I feel like at earlier points in my life, I would’ve just gone, ‘too hard, too scary, people are gonna realize I’m a fraud.’ [However I am] at a point that I kind of want to scare myself.”

On her first real foray into leading actor territory
“I’m trying not to always let on how nervous I am, to appear more confident than I actually feel. Because I feel like at earlier points in my life, I would’ve just gone, ‘too hard, too scary, people are gonna realize I’m a fraud.'”

On playing her flawed character Mickey in ‘Love’
“As an actor, I’m glad. But if she were my friend, I’d be pulling my hair out.”

“I was the friend that my friends worried about… their lives and careers all seemed to be moving forward, and I felt kind of stuck. 10, 15 years ago, I was in a place in my life where I was making not as extreme, but similar choices.

On testing herself
She picks projects that challenge and “intimidate” her — or, as she quotes, “in the words of Shonda Rhimes, saying ‘yes.'”

On overcoming fear
“Even though I have the voice in my head that tells me I can’t do it, I’m just gonna try… I keep wanting to try and use different parts of my brain, challenge myself in different ways, and feel like I’m taking on new roles in my own life. That’s so cliche.”

[From Bustle]

I feel like giving her a pep talk. “You can do this, you’ve got this. You’re funny!” She’s not navel-gazing so much as vulnerable and honest about what she’s going through. Bustle also pointed us to a brief biographical article which Jacobs wrote for Lena Dunham’s newsletter, Lenny, last month in which she explains how she got into acting and was put on academic probation at Juilliard. It’s a good read and goes a long way toward explaining her personality – her parents divorced when she was young and she’s a people pleaser – and her career choice. Now I’m excited to watch Love and I hope it turns in more steady work for her. It looks like she’s well on her way.

Here’s some of the editorial and you can see more on Bustle. All of the clothing is from Modcloth, which… you can tell. She deserves more sophisticated styling. (Update: Gillian is also in “Halston Heritage Bonded Crepe Cutout Dress, a Halston Heritage Satin Faille High/Low Skirt, and a T Shirt Lipstick Attack from Yeah-Bunny.PL.”)

photo credit: WENN.com and Bianca Consunji and Emily Geraghty/Bustle