Mamet: I grew up on movie sets

Rising star Zosia Mamet has admitted it's a "double-edged sword" having famous parents.

The American actress - who stars in highly anticipated new US television show Girls - is the daughter of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright father David Mamet and actress mother Lindsay Crouse.

"It definitely makes it harder to make a name for yourself, but it's also lovely to have a family that understands what you're going through," she said.

Zosia, 24, said her parents were "very supportive" of her chosen career, which is handy as she believes she was born, almost literally, into acting.

"My mother was pregnant with me on stage, so I was a goner from the womb," she quipped. "I grew up on movie sets and at theatres and it always seemed like the most magical thing in the world to me. I never wanted to do anything else."

Girls follows four women in their 20s as they navigate the transitional post-university phase. The series, on which Judd Apatow is executive producer, has garnered critical acclaim across the pond and has been compared to Sex And The City.

"It's a lovely sort of compliment," Zosia said, adding: "But at the same time we always said when people watch the show they'll see how different it is."

The actress compares the show to Ricky Gervais' The Office, saying: "It's not afraid to make people uncomfortable. Comedy arises out of very dark places and I think that's something that we really try to hold on to with our show."

:: Girls, which also stars Lena Dunham, Alison Williams and Jemima Kirke, begins on Sky Atlantic on Monday, October 22.