Donald Glover Says He Struggled with Imposter Syndrome on '30 Rock' : 'I Used to Have Stress Dreams'

"It definitely didn't feel like I was supposed to be there," the actor/musician told GQ of working as a writer on the hit NBC sitcom right out of college

Donald Glover's stint as a writer on 30 Rock was the job of a lifetime for then college-aged musician/actor in 2006, but it came with a serious dose of imposter syndrome.

"It definitely didn't feel like I was supposed to be there," Glover, 39, told GQ, as part of the outlet's Global Creativity Awards issue, released this week.

Detailing that he was a resident assistant (RA) in a dorm at New York University when he was hired for the role at age 23, Glover said, "I used to have stress dreams every night where I was doing cartwheels on the top of a New York skyscraper with the other writers watching me."

The star was hired as a writer for 30 Rock as part of a diversity initiative at NBC, he told GQ. "There is no animosity between us or anything like that, but [Tina Fey] said it herself…. It was a diversity thing," he said, referring to Fey, 52, who created the series.

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Glover stayed on as a writer for the hit NBC sitcom for three seasons, and his influence is part of what star Tracy Morgan credits for the success of his character in the show, eccentric movie star Tracy Jordan.

"When I first read his writing during 30 Rock, I was like, 'He's got it,' " Morgan, 54, told GQ of Glover's talent early on. "The things he wrote for me made me very funny. He got me nominated …twice!"

It was a career-making job to secure for Glover, who revealed that he was up against Black-ish creator Kenya Barris for the role.

"I didn't know it was between me and him until later. He hit me one day and he was like, 'I hated you for years!' " he said.

Related:Rory Culkin's Swarm Nude Scene Was Inspired by Donald Glover's Real-Life Morning-After Mishap

Most recently, Glover, who releases music under the name Childish Gambino, has been working on projects for his new production company Gilga following the end of Atlanta — his critically acclaimed show that aired its fourth and final season in the fall.

He described the venture as comparable to the high-end California supermarket Erewhon. "Gilga is like Erewhon for culture. I want to work with the best people in every medium. To work toward sustainable output."

His goal with the company is to elevate the quality of entertainment and art that's being released, he told GQ. "The culture we're getting from our phones is not high quality. It can be really good sometimes. And fun. But not necessarily high quality. Gilga is the filter for all of that."

One of Gilga's first projects will come in the form of a much-anticipated short film from Malia Obama, who Glover has been mentoring. "The first thing we did was talk about the fact that she will only get to do this once," he recalled warning the former president's oldest child. "You're Obama's daughter. So if you make a bad film, it will follow you around."

The Harvard graduate has impressed Glover so far, though, as well as other industry veterans. She was part of the writing team for Glover's most recent release, Amazon Prime Video series Swarm, which follows Dre, a young woman who is obsessed with a fictional R&B star resembling Beyoncé.

"Some of her pitches were wild as hell, and they were just so good and so funny," the show's co-creator Janine Nabers previously told Entertainment Tonight. "She's an incredible writer. She brought a lot to the table. … She's really, really dedicated to her craft."

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