Speaker 1: Hey, guys, welcome to I've never said this before with me,
Speaker 1: Tommy di Dario. This is the first episode of this show,
Speaker 1: and I am so excited you were tuning in. So
Speaker 1: during the pandemic, it was March twenty twenty, the world
Speaker 1: shut down and my job stopped. I wasn't going on
Speaker 1: television and doing my feel good segments and my celebrity interviews.
Speaker 1: So I had to pivot and I was sitting home
Speaker 1: wondering what was I going to do. Was I going
Speaker 1: to contribute during this scary time, or was I going
Speaker 1: to do something to help people feel connected and together
Speaker 1: and close to the people that they admired. And that's
Speaker 1: what I did. So I launched an Instagram live show.
Speaker 1: It was called Let's Stay Together, where I brought on
Speaker 1: today's hottest actors from films and TV shows and we
Speaker 1: dove deep into the projects that fans loved, and then
Speaker 1: we went there on some other more human connection type
Speaker 1: of questions. It was a five day a week show
Speaker 1: for quite some time, and then as the world began reopening,
Speaker 1: we scaled it back. But it was something that I
Speaker 1: had a very big aha moment doing, and that was
Speaker 1: people don't just want to hear about the highs in
Speaker 1: somebody's life, right, they want to hear about the lows.
Speaker 1: They want to learn about what they went through and
Speaker 1: what they took away from that low. I wanted to
Speaker 1: do the show because I think it's so important to
Speaker 1: have conversations that go deep, and when I'm on the
Speaker 1: red carpet, I don't get the chance to do that.
Speaker 1: And I see the people I'm interviewing. They're craving it.
Speaker 1: They want to go there, right, We're just about to
Speaker 1: get there, and then we run out of time. So
Speaker 1: this is the space to have the time to go there,
Speaker 1: because I think that's where we can all connect to
Speaker 1: one another. You see the shine, you see the glitz,
Speaker 1: you see the glamour. It's smoking mirrors. We're all stripped down.
Speaker 1: I want to show people that we all have a
Speaker 1: lot more in common than we don't. This is a
Speaker 1: show where people who pretend to be someone else for
Speaker 1: a living have the chance to be real. Today's guest
Speaker 1: is no big deal. One of the most talked about
Speaker 1: actors in the world right now. Hunter Duhan grew up
Speaker 1: in Fort Smith, Atlanta, where he had big dreams of
Speaker 1: making it in Hollywood and I think it's safe to
Speaker 1: say he did just that. You may know him from
Speaker 1: his co starring role as Brian Cranston's son in Your
Speaker 1: Honor on Showtime, or of course, as Tyler in Wednesday
Speaker 1: on Netflix, starring in one of the most popular shows
Speaker 1: in the history of Netflix ever, where he plays Jeno
Speaker 1: Ortego's love interest turned billing and on a personal note,
Speaker 1: I am so psyched that season two has been announced,
Speaker 1: because well, we all need more of his brilliant character
Speaker 1: work playing the evil monster known as the Hide. I
Speaker 1: hope you enjoyed this conversation as much as I did.
Speaker 1: Now let's see if today we can get Hunter to
Speaker 1: say something that he has never said before. Okay, I've
Speaker 1: got to ask you first before we dive in. I
Speaker 1: was on your Instagram doing a little scrolling, and I
Speaker 1: noticed there was a picture of you as a kid
Speaker 1: giving the middle finger. A little scared that that might
Speaker 1: happen to me today if you don't like the interview,
Speaker 1: but you gotta give me the backstory on that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a warning to everyone I do an interview.
Speaker 3: With, so behave No. That's I think the credit or
Speaker 3: blame for that goes to my mom.
Speaker 2: For encouraging me to take that picture.
Speaker 3: In taking it, she's the best and has a very
Speaker 3: immature sense of humor.
Speaker 1: So were you a spicy kid? Was that your default?
Speaker 3: I think I was like little, But then when I
Speaker 3: was in like high school, like not at all, I
Speaker 3: was like kind of lame. I was just running around
Speaker 3: the theater department and got very involved in my like
Speaker 3: youth group church. I was like not going to party
Speaker 3: like drinking parties as me like oh called them.
Speaker 1: So you were a good boy, mm hmm, okay, all right,
Speaker 1: but obviously that phase maybe didn't last through your work
Speaker 1: because you kind of play a bad boy on Wednesday, right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, spoiler alert, but Eve had two months come on, people,
Speaker 3: catch up. Yeah. It was so fun kind of got
Speaker 3: to play both. That was kind of like the nice
Speaker 3: guy for seven episodes and then you know, we wanted
Speaker 3: that like big shift to happen on the last one,
Speaker 3: and it was so much fun.
Speaker 2: Getting to play the villain. And I'm so excited.
Speaker 3: I think last time we talked, I couldn't say anything
Speaker 3: because I didn't know. But we are officially coming back
Speaker 3: for a second season, so I get to like start
Speaker 3: off the second season in that place, which is gonna
Speaker 3: be so much fun.
Speaker 1: Wow, that's huge, congratulations to you. I know that waiting
Speaker 1: for that renewal is always a bit a nerve racking, right, Like,
Speaker 1: you know how popular the show is, but did you
Speaker 1: still have a little bit of worry or fear about
Speaker 1: getting renewed.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I kind of went through like seven stages of
Speaker 3: grief about it. I was like thinking, it was like,
Speaker 3: for sure gonna happen, and then it took so long
Speaker 3: we weren't really sure what was going on. And then
Speaker 3: there's all these like crazy articles coming out saying it
Speaker 3: might switch to Amazon, which there was like that can't
Speaker 3: be true. And then it you know, then we got
Speaker 3: the good news and time if I can feel I
Speaker 3: can finally breathe.
Speaker 1: Well well deserved. I mean, this show I don't have
Speaker 1: to tell you, but it broke all sorts of Netflix records.
Speaker 1: Wednesday is truly, in my opinion, one of the freshest
Speaker 1: shows of all of twenty twenty two. I think it
Speaker 1: was done so beautifully. It also had a great record.
Speaker 1: The show twice broke the record for the most hours
Speaker 1: viewed in a single week by an English language TV series.
Speaker 1: I'm curious to know, where were you in your life
Speaker 1: personally and professionally when the opportunity for this amazing role
Speaker 1: came up for you.
Speaker 3: Why had come off another show that was like a
Speaker 3: dream come true to be on It was your Honor
Speaker 3: on Showtime and it was so much fun. But it
Speaker 3: was supposed to be a limited series and my character
Speaker 3: dies in the last episode, and so I was like, okay,
Speaker 3: you know, like what a great ending. And then it
Speaker 3: got renewed for a second season because it did so well.
Speaker 3: But I was like, oh, well, I don't get to
Speaker 3: be a part of that, and so I was really bummed.
Speaker 3: And then it kind of all worked out for the
Speaker 3: best because if I had still been doing that show,
Speaker 3: I couldn't have done Wednesday.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was like it came on along and it just.
Speaker 3: Like a great, great time for me. That was like
Speaker 3: so much fun getting that call.
Speaker 1: So you got the call, then what happened?
Speaker 3: Then I started can I you know, getting to work
Speaker 3: on it because the audition process is long. It was
Speaker 3: like I think the first tape it was February and
Speaker 3: then I didn't find out I got the role until July,
Speaker 3: and then we were going to go to Romania to
Speaker 3: shoot in September, and so then I just started, you know,
Speaker 3: getting the scripts and like breaking everything down and actually
Speaker 3: trying to figure out this character. I like finally got
Speaker 3: the official word that I was the bad guy, because
Speaker 3: during the audition process they didn't want to, you know,
Speaker 3: officially tell anyone what the real deal was with Tyler.
Speaker 3: So I think I told you the last time we spoke.
Speaker 3: It was like they gave me the clue like he
Speaker 3: has a dark secret, and I was like, is it
Speaker 3: you know, the dark secret?
Speaker 2: And they wouldn't like officially tell me.
Speaker 3: But then after booking it, I got on the phone
Speaker 3: with Alan Miles are like amazing writers, and they kind
Speaker 3: of broke down the whole history of Tyler and how
Speaker 3: the whole first season was going to play out for me.
Speaker 1: Were you hoping that you were the character with the
Speaker 1: dark secret? Did you want to sink your teeth into it?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that's just.
Speaker 3: For me. That fel like the most exciting element to
Speaker 3: what could possibly be a part of this character.
Speaker 1: So how do you prepare for something like that? You
Speaker 1: kind of have this juckle Hyde character. You play the
Speaker 1: good guy and you play the bad guy. Is it
Speaker 1: double the work? Double the prep, how do you get
Speaker 1: into that bad guy frame of mind? What did you
Speaker 1: do to really nail this character? Because you did it flawlessly.
Speaker 3: Thanks. When I actually got the original like Jecko and
Speaker 3: Hyde novel, read through that and like.
Speaker 2: Used a lot of that for inspiration.
Speaker 3: That book is funny though as it like holds up
Speaker 3: as a horror story in today's because I, you know,
Speaker 3: Horace like comes so far and so intense nowadays, and
Speaker 3: that leading that book is like a whole chapter would
Speaker 3: be like and he received a mysterious letter and that
Speaker 3: would be like the big scare of the chapter. But like,
Speaker 3: something I took from that was the more that he
Speaker 3: turns into mister Hyde and that the like lines between
Speaker 3: them get blurred and like Hide kind of takes over
Speaker 3: for him. So we kind of talked about that the
Speaker 3: same for Tyler, Like the more he's transition into the
Speaker 3: Hide and the more kills he does, the more that
Speaker 3: kind of takes over, and like, you know, the real
Speaker 3: Tyler is kind of pretty much gone by the into
Speaker 3: the first season. Wow.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the show ended on that total transformation for your character,
Speaker 1: which was so satisfying as a viewer to see you
Speaker 1: had the scene I was in an episode seven or
Speaker 1: eight where you were in the police station or the court,
Speaker 1: the police station, right, and you just tell me about
Speaker 1: that scene. What was it like filming that?
Speaker 3: Yeah, the police station scene. That was kind of like
Speaker 3: the real you reveal for me because she has the
Speaker 3: vision at end of episode seven, but they've kind of
Speaker 3: spent the whole season reminding people that her visions may
Speaker 3: not be able to be trusted. And then I start
Speaker 3: off episode eight, I'm still playing against it, saying, you know,
Speaker 3: tied up in chains, like how could you do this
Speaker 3: to me? And then I've never been more nervous or
Speaker 3: excited or prepared more for a scene than that police
Speaker 3: station scene because I was like the villain monologue that
Speaker 3: you hope to have and it ends with me talking
Speaker 3: about killing people, saying it was delicious.
Speaker 1: Wow. How much work would you say you put into
Speaker 1: a scene like that before you film it? How many
Speaker 1: times do you run in and practice it? Does it
Speaker 1: consume you until you actually do it?
Speaker 3: Yeah? We were waiting on that script for a while,
Speaker 3: and I knew the tyler was aware that he was
Speaker 3: the bad guy, and like was the hide like wasn't
Speaker 3: like a secret to him? But I didn't know what
Speaker 3: extent and you know, just even you know, logistically the
Speaker 3: dialogue of how he did it or revealed it now.
Speaker 3: But once I got it, you know, I immediately started
Speaker 3: breaking it down and also just going back throughout the
Speaker 3: season and trying to make sure everything I'd done is
Speaker 3: adding up and making sense now that I had all
Speaker 3: eight scripts.
Speaker 1: Well, that's what's amazing about how you play this role.
Speaker 1: You don't kind of let on throughout the show that
Speaker 1: you could be the bad guy everyone. You're kind of
Speaker 1: suspecting as you're watching, like, oh, are they the Hide?
Speaker 1: Are they the Hider? Are they the Hide? So you
Speaker 1: have these feelings, Oh, it could be anyone, but you
Speaker 1: were so not the obvious choice for me. Maybe thought
Speaker 1: that early on, but then I'm like, no, it's not him.
Speaker 1: So that was all deliberate.
Speaker 3: Well, you didn't want to make it obvious, and I
Speaker 3: felt like I didn't have to, you know, leave any
Speaker 3: like hints for people because it was so well crafted.
Speaker 3: Like in the story and every time, if you like,
Speaker 3: go back and watch that Wednesday sees the Hide and
Speaker 3: it's like he's followed her or something. It's Tyler knows
Speaker 3: where Wednesday's going. To be and you know, people even
Speaker 3: put it together on TikTok that when she has the
Speaker 3: vision of Eugene getting attacked to the dance, there's a
Speaker 3: split second where she bumps into me and that's why
Speaker 3: she has the vision, you know.
Speaker 1: And I was a.
Speaker 3: Shot you know that Tim designed from above that we
Speaker 3: had to do over and over again trying to like
Speaker 3: make sure it.
Speaker 2: Was there but not too obvious.
Speaker 1: So well done. And you and Jenna Ortiga in this
Speaker 1: show have such a great chemisty and it feels like
Speaker 1: you've known each other forever. Like that's just how the
Speaker 1: relationship unravels on screen, and that's how working together really
Speaker 1: comes off. As how was it forming that bond with
Speaker 1: Jenna and starting the character work together? What did you
Speaker 1: guys do to get to that place?
Speaker 3: Honestly, we just kind of became friends in real life
Speaker 3: and just spent a lot of time together on set
Speaker 3: because I mean most of my scenes are just the
Speaker 3: two of us, which was so lucky for me.
Speaker 2: She's phenomenal as this character.
Speaker 3: I reached out to her after I was cast and
Speaker 3: we met up for coffee here in La before we
Speaker 3: went over, just to like, you know, before we like
Speaker 3: jump into this giant show and make sure we like
Speaker 3: met in person, and I don't know, being over in
Speaker 3: Romania as a cast in general, we all kind of
Speaker 3: bonded really quickly because we were all away from home,
Speaker 3: all the way from our families and friends, so the
Speaker 3: only people we had to hang out with, you know,
Speaker 3: was each other. You know, Jenna was on set though
Speaker 3: almost twenty four to seven because you look at the
Speaker 3: show and she's almost in every single frame of it.
Speaker 3: And to be honestly, I mean, she's just so easy
Speaker 3: to work with because she's phenomenal and she gives you
Speaker 3: so much.
Speaker 2: As an actor to like bounce off of.
Speaker 1: Was there a scene that you shot together that was
Speaker 1: more difficult and you just really wanted to master and
Speaker 1: just make sure it came off perfectly. Did you two
Speaker 1: work really extra hard at a particular scene.
Speaker 3: I think the episode A had a few of those,
Speaker 3: with like the police station thing, and she has the
Speaker 3: scene right before that with you know, the sheriff and
Speaker 3: the principle. I think it's always interesting to watch her navigate,
Speaker 3: you know, how Wednesday reacts in these like high stress
Speaker 3: moments because she doesn't respond the same way other people would.
Speaker 3: And then earlier than that. I think this legally blonde
Speaker 3: scene and when we're like having the date and then
Speaker 3: like just trying to like build a romantic relationship with
Speaker 3: Wednesday Adams, like I would kind of be like, okay, are.
Speaker 2: We selling this enough?
Speaker 3: And then you know, some people, like I saw online,
Speaker 3: were making fun of a moment in episode four when
Speaker 3: Tyler says, you know, he keep giving me these signals,
Speaker 3: and everyone's like, what signals? She hasn't giving you anything.
Speaker 3: But then I was able to realize, you know, he's
Speaker 3: kind of gaslighting her the whole time anyway, and like
Speaker 3: tricking her into having feelings and making her feel like
Speaker 3: she can trust him, and they have this bond of
Speaker 3: not fitting in with the other never more kids.
Speaker 2: So that was kind of like my way in on
Speaker 2: some of those scenes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh that's so funny. People pick out the littlest
Speaker 1: things and seeing oh yeah, well, does that surprise you
Speaker 1: when you see things on TikTok and social media and
Speaker 1: you're like, wait, that they're interpreting it one way, but
Speaker 1: it's supposed to be meant in another way.
Speaker 2: Definitely, And I mean there's so funny.
Speaker 3: I like I had to like repost a few like
Speaker 3: I did like a series of like pre PoTA memes
Speaker 3: and tiktoks on my Instagram the people in mad just
Speaker 3: because people the fans are like so funny and I
Speaker 3: just like, I mean, I love seeing it, so I
Speaker 3: wanted to share it.
Speaker 1: That's awesome. I love seeing all the fan edits and
Speaker 1: everything that goes around on social media. It's really cool.
Speaker 1: The community that has come together through a show like this,
Speaker 1: I think is incredible. It makes a lot of people
Speaker 1: feel connected through just being a fan of the show.
Speaker 1: I know the movie was before your time obviously, but
Speaker 1: did you watch that growing up or did you kind
Speaker 1: of have to go back and watch it for the
Speaker 1: first time.
Speaker 3: I had seen it growing up, but then I did
Speaker 3: go rewatch the two nineties movies with Christina Ricci in
Speaker 3: it over again, not really.
Speaker 2: For like character research, more just for like, I was
Speaker 2: excited about the job.
Speaker 3: But it was cool. It was like and I think
Speaker 3: there's a lot of inspiration, you know, obviously with the
Speaker 3: whole thanksgiving play that they do in the Adams Chanley
Speaker 3: Values movie, and then you know, there's so much thanksgiving
Speaker 3: stuff in Pilgrim World in ours and people kept giving
Speaker 3: a shit.
Speaker 2: Like why is the show not coming out on Halloween?
Speaker 2: And I was like, just wait, I swear it makes sense.
Speaker 3: Once it comes out.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it did. I mean it's I thought the
Speaker 1: timing of it all was perfect. What would you want
Speaker 1: to see in a season two? I know the writers
Speaker 1: are brilliant and they're going to take the reins, But
Speaker 1: if you had a magic ball and you were like, Okay,
Speaker 1: this is what I want putting it out in the universe,
Speaker 1: what is it?
Speaker 3: I want the first scene to just be Tyler having
Speaker 3: escaped that van post like killing everyone that band covered
Speaker 3: in blood, and I'm going to like, I don't want
Speaker 3: to start the season off, like I think Tyler's going
Speaker 3: to be totally kind of unhinged because he's in the
Speaker 3: darkest place he's ever been in. And also he doesn't
Speaker 3: have you know, risin Ricci's character pulling the strings anymore,
Speaker 3: and so he doesn't have a master, so I think
Speaker 3: he's gonna, you know, hopefully be a little lost. I
Speaker 3: don't know. I wouldn't explore like does he get another
Speaker 3: hide master or what is it like when he's on
Speaker 3: his own? And then I mean, I hope for me
Speaker 3: that like the big art for my character is like
Speaker 3: just the like fight between the real Tyler and the
Speaker 3: Hide and like which side is gonna kind of take
Speaker 3: over at any point.
Speaker 1: So do you think there's redemption for Tyler? Could he
Speaker 1: become a straight out good guy?
Speaker 3: I don't know. Maybe if he's never more people actually
Speaker 3: let Hides into the school.
Speaker 2: It's not fair they won't teach him how.
Speaker 3: To control it.
Speaker 1: Okay, fair enough, fair enough?
Speaker 2: Can you redeem someone who's like murdered seven people.
Speaker 1: That's a good question. I'm not quite sure. Yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go with no, but very curious to see to
Speaker 1: see how your storyline unfolds. It's definitely to me one
Speaker 1: of the most interesting storylines on the show, really because
Speaker 1: of that dichotomy, right of going back and forth from
Speaker 1: the good guy to the transforming to the bad guy.
Speaker 1: When you got that role and you've set out on
Speaker 1: this adventure you filmed in Romania, you went out for
Speaker 1: seven months, you were kind of detached from reality. You
Speaker 1: came back home, you know, you were waiting for this
Speaker 1: baby to be put into the world. Did you have
Speaker 1: any idea that this was going to blow up in
Speaker 1: the way that it did.
Speaker 2: No, not at all, Like I was telling someone recently.
Speaker 3: Once I got back home, I kind of like disassociated
Speaker 3: from it because they spent so long over there, and
Speaker 3: then I don't know, it's like back home. And then
Speaker 3: all of a sudden, I wasn't seeing the same people
Speaker 3: every day, and I wasn't seeing any of the same
Speaker 3: locations because it was so our way, and it kind
Speaker 3: of felt like it hadn't happened in a weird way,
Speaker 3: and I was like, oh, and then you know, it
Speaker 3: got home, and then there was like seven months of
Speaker 3: us waiting.
Speaker 2: Until the show came out after we had wrapped. It
Speaker 2: was really strange.
Speaker 3: And then I knew that it would be like a
Speaker 3: thing and that it would like do well. And I've
Speaker 3: been saying since we started shooting, like I'll be saying,
Speaker 3: you know, I worked with din Ortego when I knew
Speaker 3: she was going to just be an absolute megastar because
Speaker 3: she's so great in it. But no, I mean, I
Speaker 3: don't think anyone could have predicted the like kind of
Speaker 3: way that it did blow up. You'd be like an
Speaker 3: insane person to be like, yeah, I think this is
Speaker 3: going to be more popular than the stranger things.
Speaker 2: You know, Like, how do you go about.
Speaker 1: Saying that, Yeah, well, that's one of the things I
Speaker 1: love about you. I think you know well, I know
Speaker 1: when we met up in New York for a coffee,
Speaker 1: I walked away from that being like, wow, like Hunter
Speaker 1: is so grounded and with all all of the success
Speaker 1: that came your way with the show seemingly fast, we'll say, right,
Speaker 1: because it got set into the world and it just
Speaker 1: everyone exploded from the show and in the best way possible.
Speaker 1: It doesn't seem like you've let that success affect you
Speaker 1: in a negative way. It doesn't seem like it's gone
Speaker 1: to your head or you're buying into it in a
Speaker 1: way that you've lost who Hunter is as a human being.
Speaker 1: How do you not let this success that people dream
Speaker 1: of and that comes really fast and really hard at
Speaker 1: you not change who you are? Oh?
Speaker 3: Thank you? I don't know, I mean, like, how do
Speaker 3: you define? Like why aren't you an asshole?
Speaker 1: That's the question I want to know. Why aren't you
Speaker 1: an asshole?
Speaker 3: I don't know. I mean I think I like wanted
Speaker 3: it for you know, just not the like whatever side
Speaker 3: of it, but just like the being able to work as.
Speaker 2: An actor for so long because I moved out.
Speaker 3: To a like ten years ago, and I did extra
Speaker 3: work for five years and was like so kind of
Speaker 3: close to the thing I wanted to do, but like
Speaker 3: also feeling so far away from it that I don't know.
Speaker 3: I think I'm like just very aware of how lucky
Speaker 3: I am to be getting to do it. And yeah,
Speaker 3: there's like hard work and you got to be good
Speaker 3: to do it, but there's such an incredible amount of
Speaker 3: luck that goes into it. And you know, I have
Speaker 3: so many friends that are actors, and I know how
Speaker 3: talented they are, and like, but I've seen that they
Speaker 3: haven't gotten, you know, their big break or whatever, and
Speaker 3: so I just, you know, I'm trying to always remember that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that. And another thing that I just
Speaker 1: love and it excites me about people like you who
Speaker 1: have this newfound fast, you know, success and fast in
Speaker 1: the sense of a show coming out and this happening.
Speaker 1: I know you've worked your whole life towards this, but
Speaker 1: I also love that you are a proud, out gay
Speaker 1: man and you play a leading man, a romantic love
Speaker 1: interest to Jenna's character to Wednesday in the show. Yet
Speaker 1: you are somebody who is posting on social media your
Speaker 1: wedding photos and you know your partner. And I think
Speaker 1: it's such a beautiful thing when I see people like
Speaker 1: you who are in these roles on such a mainstream
Speaker 1: show putting that out there. So I would love to
Speaker 1: hear a bit about your coming out journey and what
Speaker 1: that was like for you.
Speaker 3: I kind of came out when I was like eighteen,
Speaker 3: and once I got to LA it was like I
Speaker 3: remember like being at like some house party and just
Speaker 3: talking to someone and this guy was like, oh, and
Speaker 3: you're gay, right, And I was like, froze and I
Speaker 3: was like yes, and he's like, okay, cool, and just
Speaker 3: I kept going.
Speaker 2: I was like, oh wait, it's not like a thing here.
Speaker 2: It doesn't matter.
Speaker 3: Because I grew up in Arkansas, and you know I
Speaker 3: mentioned earlier, I got like very involved in like my
Speaker 3: church youth group when I was in high school, and
Speaker 3: so that whole process was just kind of a nightmare
Speaker 3: for me personally. So then I'd been like out for
Speaker 3: you know, my entire adult life, and then professionally, I'd
Speaker 3: never really thought too much about it until I was
Speaker 3: doing the testing process for Your Honor and the show
Speaker 3: on Showtime, and I remember like, as we were gearing
Speaker 3: up for the network test, which is like the final
Speaker 3: audition stage for people that don't know and you have
Speaker 3: to go in, and like I was going to read
Speaker 3: with Brian and all of the executives from CBS and
Speaker 3: Showtime We're going to be there, and the producers and writers.
Speaker 1: Of the show.
Speaker 3: And so as we were gearing up for that, I
Speaker 3: remember like coming through my social media and archiving stuff
Speaker 3: with that had me and Fielder in it together, or
Speaker 3: like anything that I had like was like obvious I
Speaker 3: was gay.
Speaker 2: It was on my page or even accounts I was following, because.
Speaker 3: I was like, Oh, I just don't want there to
Speaker 3: be any element of them being like, why does Adam's
Speaker 3: not gay? So can Hunter really do that? Because I
Speaker 3: mean I was a total nobody going up for this,
Speaker 3: you know, role opposite Brian Cranston. There's so many things
Speaker 3: already against me. And then it was kind of awful
Speaker 3: once I got it, because once I got to set,
Speaker 3: I like had to come out again.
Speaker 2: It was like people didn't know, oh, and that was
Speaker 2: just felt so uncomfortable to be like, I don't know,
Speaker 2: doing that for like the first time in like seven
Speaker 2: eight years and making it for it to like feel
Speaker 2: like that again and too like, you know, everyone on
Speaker 2: that show is credit.
Speaker 3: Like I remember I was talking to Peter Moffatt about
Speaker 3: all this, who was the show runner of the show,
Speaker 3: and he was just like gutted and like heartbroken to
Speaker 3: like learned that I had done that, and he was like,
Speaker 3: you know, I wouldn't have mattered, and you know, maybe
Speaker 3: it wouldn't have, but I just like at the time
Speaker 3: didn't know. But then after I went through that experience,
Speaker 3: and then I remember, like my friend Grace came to
Speaker 3: visit me and Brian and other people were like, oh, so,
Speaker 3: is there something going on between you guys. I was like,
Speaker 3: oh god, I was like, because she came to visit before,
Speaker 3: you know, my boyfriend had come to visit, like, uh so,
Speaker 3: like kind of from that point on, I just decided
Speaker 3: that to me, it wasn't worth it to hide it
Speaker 3: or you know, because that just was such a weird experience.
Speaker 3: So I don't know, I'm sure I'll lose out on
Speaker 3: some opportunities.
Speaker 2: But it's just not worth it to you know, not
Speaker 2: be yourself in that way.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm hopeful things are changing. They have changed already,
Speaker 1: but they need to continue to change and I'm hopeful
Speaker 1: they will and that being who you truly are in
Speaker 1: any industry hopefully won't affect people in a negative way.
Speaker 1: And I just I commend you because I know it's
Speaker 1: not always easy and our business. Did you ever feel
Speaker 1: afraid that being out would affect your career and did
Speaker 1: you have any moments where it did? Would you say, Yeah.
Speaker 2: Definitely, I have had moments of being afraid and.
Speaker 3: You know me and it was thinning on your honor
Speaker 3: Lily who played you know, we were a couple on
Speaker 3: the show, and she's also queer, and so you know,
Speaker 3: we would have a lot of conversations about it and
Speaker 3: just like you know, wondering if you know, maybe not
Speaker 3: hide it, but should we just like not be so
Speaker 3: open about it, just like you know, should Instagram just
Speaker 3: be professional stuff for I don't know. So there was
Speaker 3: definitely a fear to it, and then I'm sure it
Speaker 3: has affected stuff, but that's like kind of the I
Speaker 3: would never hear about that, you know, I would never
Speaker 3: know which jobs I lost out on because of it,
Speaker 3: because I think people are smart enough to not say
Speaker 3: this is the reason why. But yeah, I don't don't know.
Speaker 1: I love that it's worth it for you to live
Speaker 1: as your authentic self in an industry while pursuing your
Speaker 1: dreams than it is to maybe achieve a dream that
Speaker 1: you have at the cost of being who you really are.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, because I you know, I told you
Speaker 3: that story. I basically did that and it felt horrible.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think it's such a great example for so
Speaker 1: many people who are listening today and for our youth
Speaker 1: right who were wondering, oh, should I be coming out
Speaker 1: or is that going to affect me negatively? I think
Speaker 1: when we see people like you, I think you think, oh, man, well,
Speaker 1: if Hunter's doing it. Yeah, it might not always be easy,
Speaker 1: but I can have a career and a dream job
Speaker 1: that I want one day, you know. Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean there's so many other like actors that did
Speaker 3: it before me in a much harder time that made
Speaker 3: it possible. So so grateful for those actors like I mean,
Speaker 3: like Neil Patrick. Harris always stands out in my head
Speaker 3: because you know, he played like, you know, a womanizer
Speaker 3: and was also this out proud gay man.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's very possible to be who you are and work.
Speaker 1: And I think that the more we have stories like
Speaker 1: yours and see people like you the more that we're
Speaker 1: moving in the right direction, it's about damn time. As
Speaker 1: Lizo says, right.
Speaker 3: What's frustrating is like, you know, a street man plays
Speaker 3: a gay part and people were almost like, how did
Speaker 3: he do it? Let's give him an award, and then
Speaker 3: like when it's vice versa, it's like, one, if we
Speaker 3: let you do it, and two you're like, well, you're
Speaker 3: expected to be able to do it that way.
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts on that. I know a lot
Speaker 1: of people have very different opinions. What do you think
Speaker 1: about the idea of you know, straightenman being cast to
Speaker 1: play queer I.
Speaker 3: Think, like at a foundational level, like it is acting,
Speaker 3: and I don't want it to get to a point
Speaker 3: where you can only play exactly what you are in
Speaker 3: real life. That's boring and that's not what it's supposed
Speaker 3: to be. And people have said this in a much
Speaker 3: more eloquent way than I'll be able to say it.
Speaker 3: But I think it just comes down to like opportunities,
Speaker 3: and you know, I think we've like really seen it
Speaker 3: come to a better place now, especially for like trans roles.
Speaker 3: I think you know nowadays you'd be insane to take
Speaker 3: a trans role where that's something that could have happened, like,
Speaker 3: you know, not even ten years ago, but it was
Speaker 3: because you know, transactors were not getting those opportunities to
Speaker 3: you can, tell their own stories and you know definitely
Speaker 3: not to you know, tell us his story. And I think,
Speaker 3: you know, I don't think that straight actors like shouldn't
Speaker 3: be able to play a game, but I'd like it to.
Speaker 2: Go the other way more too.
Speaker 3: And I think, you know, people want also authentic stories,
Speaker 3: you know, more of them where queer actors are telling
Speaker 3: queer stories. So I don't know, is that a cop
Speaker 3: out answer?
Speaker 1: Oh no, I think what you're saying is you just
Speaker 1: want a seat at the table. Like, you know, straight
Speaker 1: actors get to play all these different roles. You just
Speaker 1: want queer people to have a seat at the table
Speaker 1: as well. I think it's fare, you know.
Speaker 3: So I don't know, I'm just going to continue going
Speaker 3: out trying to steal all the other straight roles I can.
Speaker 1: Let's go, I'm ready for you in like a Marvel
Speaker 1: superhero movie. Come on, let's go.
Speaker 3: Yeah, let's do it. I'm down.
Speaker 1: I love that. So Hunter, I'm very interested in the
Speaker 1: idea and the conversation around mental health. I think it's
Speaker 1: super important and I'm glad we're finally talking more about
Speaker 1: it as a society. You know, on a personal level,
Speaker 1: I lost a friend early last year to a mental
Speaker 1: health struggle, and I just I'm making an effort to
Speaker 1: bring this topic up more in my conversations with people,
Speaker 1: because you just never know who's listening and who can
Speaker 1: feel seen or helped by a conversation like this, and
Speaker 1: with somebody like you who's on such a public platform.
Speaker 1: And yes, you receive so much praise and so many
Speaker 1: people just adore you and now follow you obviously through
Speaker 1: your growing social media channels. But with that obviously comes
Speaker 1: trolls and the keyboard warriors who hide behind and say
Speaker 1: awful things to all of us. We've all received it
Speaker 1: and gotten it. How do you, on a personal level
Speaker 1: deal with those comments when they come up? Talk to
Speaker 1: me about your relationship with kind of tuning out the negative.
Speaker 3: First of all, I'm so sorry about your friend. It
Speaker 3: does affect me. It's really horrible. Some of the things
Speaker 3: like people will say and like can so casually just
Speaker 3: you know, come on to another humans page and throw
Speaker 3: out there is like baffling to me. But I also
Speaker 3: have to remember, like it's like people like yes for
Speaker 3: better or worse. You know, they wouldn't say that stuff
Speaker 3: to you in real life or most of the time.
Speaker 3: I think the last time we talked to I like
Speaker 3: told you I had to like limit comments on my
Speaker 3: Instagram because it was affecting me because I couldn't understand why,
Speaker 3: you know, I was posting about the show, and you know,
Speaker 3: at the time, like you know, those posts would get
Speaker 3: like two thousand comments, but then my wedding photos from
Speaker 3: six months ago had eight thousand comments, and it was
Speaker 3: people like fighting in the comments and and a lot
Speaker 3: of like support, but then just so much like just horrible,
Speaker 3: like ugly hatred, and like at first I would like
Speaker 3: see stuff pop up and i'd like just try to
Speaker 3: like delete a comment when I like happened to see
Speaker 3: it pop up, and like the stream of notifications.
Speaker 2: But then I went and like actually.
Speaker 3: Clicked on it and was like scrolling through and there's
Speaker 3: just so much awful stuff in there that couldn't keep
Speaker 3: up with, that couldn't like I didn't want to put
Speaker 3: that much energy into it, and I couldn't keep up
Speaker 3: if I did want to, And so I you know,
Speaker 3: I limited it to just at least people who follow me,
Speaker 3: so I was like, Okay, you have to at least
Speaker 3: want to be here. And I still get some comments
Speaker 3: like that that people are taking that extra step to
Speaker 3: follow me, and then I'm sure commisling awful and then
Speaker 3: unfollow me. But yeah, I don't know. I like, you know,
Speaker 3: I personally tried to, you know, set that boundary, but
Speaker 3: it does affect you.
Speaker 2: I don't I think it would be hard not to.
Speaker 1: I always say the real world matters, right, because we
Speaker 1: forget sometimes especially the fandom is amazing and they get
Speaker 1: so passionate about the projects like Wednesday and and you know,
Speaker 1: whatever shows or movies they watch. But sometimes you have
Speaker 1: to remind everybody like you're playing a character. It's not
Speaker 1: who you are and you're not Tyler. Have you found
Speaker 1: that distinction one that you've had to kind of make
Speaker 1: more and more as the popularity of the show goes on.
Speaker 3: You know, the actual like fans of the show are
Speaker 3: amazing and like, I think get that, and they engage
Speaker 3: with all of us in what seems to me like
Speaker 3: a really fun way, and especially like the younger fans
Speaker 3: of the show, it's so cool for me to see
Speaker 3: like there's this whole like online campaign called like wind
Speaker 3: Clear because they want Wednesday to be with her roommate
Speaker 3: in Instintclair and so that's like their ship name. But
Speaker 3: like for me, I was like, oh my god, this
Speaker 3: is like the great irony of my life that I'm
Speaker 3: kind of getting, you know, in a fun way, trolled
Speaker 3: for being in the way of a gay relationship.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's amazing.
Speaker 3: There's like the is just so cool and fun and
Speaker 3: I love the thin you know, these like you know teenagers.
Speaker 2: Are like no more gay.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm telling you. It's something I've noticed with the
Speaker 1: show as well. I've interviewed a lot of people from
Speaker 1: any different shows, and the fandom around Wednesday seems incredible.
Speaker 1: Wait a minut I've got to ask you now, So,
Speaker 1: aside from Tyler being a little a little bit crazy,
Speaker 1: aside from that, who would you be interested in seeing
Speaker 1: your character get in a relationship with on the show? Anyone,
Speaker 1: any any demoned werewolf, man, woman, anything in between, whatever.
Speaker 1: Who would Tyler ship? Who would you like to see?
Speaker 3: Oh wow, I don't know. I mean I really want
Speaker 3: to explore, like what is real between Wednesday and Tyler,
Speaker 3: because you know on her end, she really fully you know,
Speaker 3: fell for it and for him, and I think that
Speaker 3: there was an initial, like genuine attraction between them because
Speaker 3: when they first meet, he doesn't know who she is,
Speaker 3: and it's like, I think, interested in her. And then
Speaker 3: I think that there's like this like you know, sexual
Speaker 3: kind of compatibility or like you know, flirtiness, the fact
Speaker 3: that they like can kind of like go at each
Speaker 3: other at the like same level with like their digs,
Speaker 3: and also like yeah, just the way they like interact
Speaker 3: in that way. I think like they both like rise
Speaker 3: to the challenge of each other, which is fun. I
Speaker 3: don't know. I guess I haven't spent too much time
Speaker 3: thinking about like who else in the show Tyler could
Speaker 3: end up with. Like, to me, that's that's pretty far
Speaker 3: from what I was thinking about.
Speaker 1: Well, I gave you something to think about, now, yeah,
Speaker 1: you can come back to me with that. What is
Speaker 1: something you can and tell me about that you're working
Speaker 1: on just for yourself?
Speaker 3: And I think for me, it's like this probably goes
Speaker 3: back to like social media stuff too, But like I
Speaker 3: wish I didn't spend so much time and energy thinking
Speaker 3: about like like looks and like like my body and
Speaker 3: like just like my relationship to like, you know, food
Speaker 3: and stuff. I think it's almost impossible to kind of
Speaker 3: like be in this industry in that not to like
Speaker 3: be in your head all the time. And I know
Speaker 3: that's like a thing for you know, a lot of
Speaker 3: people not in the actors or in front of the
Speaker 3: camera in any since. So I think it's cool that
Speaker 3: people are like talking about that more now, but I
Speaker 3: still haven't found a way for me yet to get
Speaker 3: to where I want to be with like how I
Speaker 3: feel about all that stuff.
Speaker 1: So you're trying to find a better or a more
Speaker 1: positive way to kind of, you know, deal with how
Speaker 1: you view your body, is what you're saying. Definitely, do
Speaker 1: you feel that you put a lot of the pressure
Speaker 1: on yourself or do you feel like through your work
Speaker 1: that's added pressure as well.
Speaker 2: Both, there's definitely an added pressure of like.
Speaker 3: It being like stuff like you know, being recorded or
Speaker 3: being photographed or being on camera.
Speaker 2: But then like if I'm actually taking a step.
Speaker 3: Back, like the only criticism I'm really hearing is from
Speaker 3: inside my own head, yeah, which is insane.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So when you hear that voice, which we all have,
Speaker 1: how do you kind of quiet it and carry on
Speaker 1: in a way that it doesn't cripple you and you
Speaker 1: know cause you to just have a terrible rest of
Speaker 1: your day or week.
Speaker 3: I think that's kind of what I'm trying to work
Speaker 3: on and figure out, is how to quiet it more.
Speaker 3: I've seen a lot of stuff. Anyone just a felt
Speaker 3: like being like grateful for your body and like I
Speaker 3: try to like think about you know, even like working
Speaker 3: out as like something like more about like what your
Speaker 3: body like can do and being grateful for that. Like.
Speaker 2: But one thing that specifically helped me is actually I
Speaker 2: lost my dad a few years ago.
Speaker 3: He passed away because he had als and he was
Speaker 3: like a tennis player and like he played professionally and
Speaker 3: then like he taught tennis all of my like childhood
Speaker 3: growing up, and so then to see him like lose
Speaker 3: control of his body and like you know, fully be
Speaker 3: there in his mind, but then his body is like
Speaker 3: totally fail him.
Speaker 2: Like that was like a big kind of awakening moment
Speaker 2: for me.
Speaker 3: I was like, Oh, Alice is about so much more
Speaker 3: than just you know, how I look in the mirror.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Wow, that's that's powerful. I'm sure watching that could
Speaker 1: not have been easy for you.
Speaker 3: No, I was, Uh, it was really difficult, especially just
Speaker 3: for to be him and like you know, all my
Speaker 3: memories of him or him being so active in running
Speaker 3: around and yeah, that was the hardest thing I've ever
Speaker 3: had to go through.
Speaker 1: Well, thank you for sharing that, and also for talking
Speaker 1: about the layer that you would take off and work on.
Speaker 1: I think that we don't talk enough about in our
Speaker 1: society the struggles that nailes have with body image. And
Speaker 1: it's very real and I've discussed this with many people before,
Speaker 1: and I think that just in a way that a
Speaker 1: lot of women have talked to me about feeling the
Speaker 1: pressures of being super thin or having the curves or
Speaker 1: whatever it may be. I think there is also a
Speaker 1: lot of pressure on men to look a certain way sometimes,
Speaker 1: and I think we need to as a society work
Speaker 1: on not commenting on people's bodies. Yeah, like whether you're
Speaker 1: athletic or not athletic, or whatever the case may be. Like,
Speaker 1: let's just let people be. And if you're close to
Speaker 1: a friend, of course that's different. But in general, like,
Speaker 1: I'm not comfortable when people talk about that with me.
Speaker 1: It's just weird. I don't want the compliment. I just
Speaker 1: rather you talk to me and let's talk about other things, right,
Speaker 1: It's just it's awkward. Yeah, And I feel like you
Speaker 1: feel the same way, and I think a lot of
Speaker 1: people feel that way, like let's just focus on things
Speaker 1: that matter. So I appreciate that you're putting it out there.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people listening today also have
Speaker 1: the same struggle, no matter who they are. And I think,
Speaker 1: knowing that this seemingly together and perfect guy, that many
Speaker 1: people will look at you and think because of your success, right,
Speaker 1: which can be deceiving, but they think success means you're
Speaker 1: okay and you're perfect and everything's great, right, right, you
Speaker 1: also have struggles that everybody else has, So thank you
Speaker 1: for that. I hope you enjoyed your experience.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I always enjoyed talking to you. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1: This was so much fun. Hunter. I am such a
Speaker 1: fan of you personally and professionally, and I'm excited to
Speaker 1: see where season two takes you with everything, and I'm
Speaker 1: glad we could deep dive into the show and then
Speaker 1: talk about some other fun things. So I have a
Speaker 1: feeling i'll be chatting with you again when season two
Speaker 1: finally comes out. Yeah, that'd be great, all right, we'll
Speaker 1: be well, and thank you so much, and I'm glad.
Speaker 1: And wait, you didn't give me the finger like your childhood.
Speaker 3: Picture, did, Julie.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think I need one at this point,
Speaker 1: I need one. There we go. Yes, Yes, I've never
Speaker 1: said this before. Is hosted by me, Tommy Dederio. This
Speaker 1: podcast is produced and edited by Mike Coscarelli, and executive
Speaker 1: producers are Andrew Piglisi and Katrino Norbel at iHeartRadio I've
Speaker 1: Never Said This Before. It is part of the Elvis
Speaker 1: Durant podcast Network on iHeart Podcasts. For more rate review
Speaker 1: and subscribe to our show and if you like this episode,
Speaker 1: tell your friends. Until next time, I'm Tommy Dedario.