WEBVTT - Billy Eichner: The new rom-com king 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.680 Hi everyone, I'm Katie Couric and welcome to next question. 0:00:05.080 --> 0:00:08.160 That's right, I'm back with a whole new season, and 0:00:08.240 --> 0:00:11.200 there is truly no one better or more fun to 0:00:11.240 --> 0:00:14.760 start with than Billy Eichner. Everyone's like, are you having fun? 0:00:14.960 --> 0:00:22.280 Having funny? I'm trying. Billy is probably best known for 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:27.280 creating and hosting the hilarious, random, and sometimes aggressively a 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:31.280 cerbic show Billy on the Street. It's a Name a Woman, 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:38.000 Name a woman? Yeah, um, who name a woman? If 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:40.440 you haven't seen it, it was a cult hit from 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:44.800 back in the twenty tents, where Billy quizzes unsuspecting strangers 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:52.680 and sometimes his famous friends around New York City a woman. 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:56.920 Billy has also appeared in a slew of comedies on 0:00:56.960 --> 0:01:00.920 the small and big screen, including most recently the mere 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:05.160 cat character Timne in Disney's remake of The Lion King. 0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:08.080 I've got it. What if he's on our side? Hear 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:11.640 me out, Having a ferocious line around might not be 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:15.000 such a bad idea. Well, then can we keep him? Yes, 0:01:15.040 --> 0:01:17.600 of course we can keep it. God who is the 0:01:17.640 --> 0:01:22.000 brains of this operation? And now Billy has written and 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:25.640 stars in the first gay romcomp from a major movie studio. 0:01:26.319 --> 0:01:30.440 This historic boy meets boys story is called Bros. And 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:35.600 Billy plays the professionally driven but emotionally unavailable Bobby. I 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:39.240 don't think that his type, because I know he told 0:01:39.240 --> 0:01:41.560 me he likes country music and his favorite singer is 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:44.320 Garth Brooks. What kind of gamemance is his favorite singer 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:47.000 is Garth Brooks? That scares me. Plus I see the 0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:49.240 guys he likes, they'll look exactly like him. They're all 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:53.880 these like big, hot, straight acting dudes. It's just not me. 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:56.240 Was the top or bottom? What does that have to 0:01:56.280 --> 0:01:58.640 do with anything? Maybe you're both bottoms and that's a problem. 0:01:58.800 --> 0:02:08.280 I'm not always the bottom, Edgar, Oh my god, sex 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:12.400 was more fun when straight people were uncomfortable with it. Well, 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:15.920 I am super proud of you, Billy. It is a 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:20.080 big deal. I know you're feeling the pressure of it too. 0:02:20.160 --> 0:02:26.000 But you know, there have been storylines about gay couples 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:30.360 and gay dating before I'm thinking about looking right was 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:33.680 on HBO, and even more in the mainstream. You have 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:37.200 Modern Family, and there's a whole panoply of shows that 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:41.320 is kind of that have tackled this. But this is 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:45.160 a really big deal. This movie, and I want you 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:49.200 to explain why it is and why it's different than 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:52.840 the things that have been done before. Well, all of 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:56.480 those things are All of those shows you mentioned are classics, 0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:59.160 and there are many others too, And there's there's also 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:03.760 a whole I mean, decades of indie films, UM that 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:06.920 I grew up watching because that was often the only 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:10.000 places you would find gay love stories and and really 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:12.600 the only places you would find gay love stories written 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:17.919 and directed by other LGBTQ people. UM. And I went 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:20.000 to see all those movies and movie theaters, and I 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:21.440 was lucky. I grew up in New York, so I 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:25.359 had access to them, UM And and Bros. Would not 0:03:25.400 --> 0:03:29.600 be here without all of those happening for for decades. 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:32.680 You know. That's where like the ground was laid, you know, 0:03:32.960 --> 0:03:36.760 to to lead up to something UM like Bros. Where 0:03:37.320 --> 0:03:40.240 you have a major studio and Universal, you know, the 0:03:40.320 --> 0:03:44.360 same studio that makes these huge franchise films like Jurassic 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:46.839 Park and Fast and The Theories and Minions and all 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:52.720 these global phenomenons who are putting their support UM behind 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:57.480 an R rated romantic comedy about a gay mail couple. Right, 0:03:57.640 --> 0:04:00.960 and not only that, but the entire cast of the movie, 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:05.200 save for a couple of quick celebrity cameos, everyone is 0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:08.560 an openly l g B t Q actor or actress, 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:13.040 even in the straight roles, which you really never see. 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:17.720 Um And I also think that although there are many 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:20.520 many wonderful l g B t Q centric films and 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:23.080 TV shows obviously that we've all been watching on streaming 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:26.840 services for for years, for me, you know, there is 0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:31.359 something that is special about going to the movie theater. 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:36.520 Um And, I think people have forgotten how much fun 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:39.160 it is and how magical it is, and how uplifting 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:43.080 it is to go watch a great romantic comedy in 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:46.880 a movie theater and straight or gay. We just don't 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:50.800 get many movies like that anymore. And I grew up 0:04:51.360 --> 0:04:55.279 in the eighties nineties, we had so many great romantic 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:58.000 comedies and I loved them so much. And those were 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:01.240 movies that made me fall in love with movies. They 0:05:01.279 --> 0:05:04.240 made me want to be in Hollywood, you know. I 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:07.880 I Pretty Woman and Moonstruck and When Harry Met Sally 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:10.680 and Annie Hall and Working Girl and Broadcast News and 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:13.120 all Nora Ephron movies. I mean, I went to see 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:15.720 all of them with my parents. I can tell you 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:18.320 exactly what movie theater I was in for many of them. 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:21.000 I still remember, you know. And I also went to 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:23.560 see action movies and superhero movies and all that stuff too, 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:26.240 I was a kid. But those are the movies that 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:29.680 really stay with many of us for years, and we 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:33.040 don't get many of them anymore. We've never gotten many 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:37.039 of them about a gay couple. And so you know, 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:41.080 these are the reasons why Bros. Is special, and you know, 0:05:41.160 --> 0:05:44.680 more than your average comedy. You know, it is it 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:47.440 is an event. It's we haven't gotten something like this. 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:50.680 And and also on top of it, the main thing 0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:53.840 is that I hope I think it's really funny. You know, 0:05:53.960 --> 0:05:57.560 we we Nick Stoler and Jadapa Tow and I. We 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:00.520 never sat down and said, let's make a history movie 0:06:00.640 --> 0:06:04.919 or you know, right right break some barriers here. No, 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:07.080 we didn't even know we were doing that. We didn't 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:08.760 know who would buy the movie or sell the movie 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:10.839 or distribute the movie, you know, at the beginning of 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:15.159 the process, and we just said, let's make a hilarious movie. 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:18.840 Judd and Nick have a long history of making some 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:22.000 of the funniest movies of the past twenty Years Bridesmaids 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:24.760 and four year Old Virgin and Knocked Up and Forgetting 0:06:24.760 --> 0:06:27.760 Sarah Marshall and all these amazing movies that we all love. 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:31.200 But this one happens to be like that, but about 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:34.360 a gate couple and with lgbt Q actors, and that's 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:36.919 really exciting. And so there's a lot about it that 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:39.279 I think is going to feel new to people while 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:43.880 also giving them that classic rom com experience that we 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:46.880 all love. There's so much I want to cover with you, Billy, 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:51.320 and one of those is why aren't there more rom coms? 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:56.520 I mean, I know that the movie industry is really 0:06:56.560 --> 0:07:00.320 obsessed with these global blockbusters that can be trained flayed 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:02.960 it into a lot of languages. My nephews a director, 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:05.320 and he explained to me a few years ago that's 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:08.479 why action films are so desirable, because you don't have 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:11.560 a lot of dialogue and you don't have to translate it, 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:14.880 and it's not like it's not like, you know, culturally, 0:07:14.960 --> 0:07:18.080 you have to really help people understand sort of the 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:22.600 nuances of relationships, etcetera. Is that why we just don't 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:26.240 see that many romcoms now being produced by these big 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:29.720 movie studios. I think there's probably a few different reasons 0:07:29.760 --> 0:07:32.600 for it. Judd Apataw recently put it best when he said, 0:07:33.040 --> 0:07:35.679 years ago, you had romantic comedies that were big hits, 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:38.160 you know, including many of his movies, and they would 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:41.760 make a profit. They would make money when they worked. However, 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:47.600 somewhere along the way, studios realized on a big franchise film, 0:07:47.680 --> 0:07:50.840 they wouldn't just make a profit. They wouldn't just make 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:54.560 a hundred million dollars. They could make a billion dollars. 0:07:55.160 --> 0:07:57.680 And then they could make another billion on the sequel, 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:00.840 and and even more, and the toys into this and that, 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:06.320 and merchandise, and and like you say, those movies play 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:10.560 well internationally, like that material is a you know, translates 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:14.040 more easily maybe, whereas you know, a romantic comedy might 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:18.000 be culturally specific as as they say. But but I 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:22.960 maintain that there's nothing wrong with superhero movies. I love 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:26.000 those two, nothing wrong with big franchise movies, and they're 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:29.600 keeping the movie going business alive, so we have to 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:34.240 give them credit for that. However, people have forgotten how 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:36.280 much fun it is to go to a movie theater 0:08:36.400 --> 0:08:39.080 with your friends or on a date, or even by yourself, 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:43.520 and just laugh out loud for two hours. And we 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:46.760 live in such a bleak world. It's such a cynical world. 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:48.679 And look, I'm a New Yorker, I'm an atom New Yorker. 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:53.079 I'm cynical. But we need movies that make us laugh 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:56.080 and then make us feel good. You know, Bros. Is 0:08:56.160 --> 0:08:59.280 laugh out loud, funny, and it's really hopeful and it's uplifting. 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:03.680 It is on It's not like everything so hunky dorry. 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:06.080 You know, we wanted it to be real, but it 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:10.960 really leaves you feeling good. It's an emotional experience. And again, 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:14.319 to see it in a movie theater, there's a unique 0:09:14.320 --> 0:09:18.200 sort of power to that because you really escaped the world. 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:21.520 It's a communal experience. You get swept away, it's all. 0:09:21.520 --> 0:09:24.839 You're not watching it on two screens, you're not distracted. 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:28.920 There's that communal aspect that is so fun. When you're 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:32.720 watching something and with people with complete strangers, you have 0:09:32.840 --> 0:09:37.240 this sense of community and and oneness that is so 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:40.880 missing in our culture. So I agree with you. I mean, 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:43.920 I haven't gone too many movie theaters since COVID Billy 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:47.200 and I miss it. Yeah, And I'm telling you, and 0:09:47.200 --> 0:09:48.920 this is just the truth and it's weird to say 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:51.240 about my own movie, but you know, we've had a 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:53.760 ton of test screenings of Bros. Because that's part of 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:56.080 the process when you're making a major studio film. And 0:09:56.120 --> 0:09:59.600 those test screenings happen in real movie theaters, big multiplexes 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:01.720 all over the country in New York, l A, Chicago, 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:04.280 and I went to all of them because I wanted 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:07.400 to see what the reaction was, and especially for the 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:10.360 first few, because I hadn't gone back to the movies 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:12.640 a lot at that point. This was earlier this year. 0:10:13.400 --> 0:10:17.640 I even for me, I had forgotten how much fun 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:20.400 it is, you know, to to see a movie like 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:23.560 this and laugh with other people. You know, we're so 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:25.800 used to watching things alone in our house, and there's 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:27.720 a lot of great things to watch alone in your house, 0:10:27.760 --> 0:10:30.680 but it is it's not the same experience. One doesn't 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:34.120 negate the other. But this, it is a magical thing 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:36.680 to go and sit in the dark and be swept 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:39.120 away by a movie like this and people leave and 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:43.199 they just feel good. You know, It's it's just it's 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:47.280 a different type of experience. It's it's unique, and you know, 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:49.680 it's why people go to the theater even you know, 0:10:49.800 --> 0:10:54.120 it's there's something bigger than life about it and what 0:10:54.320 --> 0:10:55.920 And this is gonna sound a little cheesy, but it 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:59.440 really has been my experience watching Bros. When you're watching 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:01.160 a movie at home and even on the biggest flat 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:04.960 screen TV, you kind of lose that childlike sense of 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:07.480 wonder that you have when you can get lost in 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:10.120 the movies in the movie theater, you know, and stare 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:13.600 up at the big screen. And that's the experience that 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:16.040 we really wanted to give people in addition to making 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:20.320 them laugh a lot. And I have to believe that 0:11:20.400 --> 0:11:24.720 people still want that experience. You know, Before we get 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:28.600 too far into Billy's current successes, I couldn't help but 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:32.439 dig into his past more with Billy Eichner right after this, 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:45.400 I have to tell you, I know your parents are 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:48.640 no longer with us, but even reading about you, Billy, 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:51.760 I fell in love with your mom and dad, because 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:54.200 it sounds as if you grew up in such a 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:58.640 happy household. It sounds as if your parents were so 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:01.839 much fun. They took you to all these movies. They 0:12:01.960 --> 0:12:04.880 took you to see Barbra streisand they took you to Broadway. 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:07.760 I guess somebody gave them a hard time about your 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:11.800 dad about taking you to a Madonna concert. And somebody 0:12:11.800 --> 0:12:15.200 basically he said, it just very matter of factly, she's 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:19.480 a she's a great performer. Right. And and this was 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:21.680 in Forest Hills, New York. You were you were born 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:25.640 in ninety eight, And they sound as if they were 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:31.880 just completely and utterly supportive of you in every way. Um. 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:35.320 And and it made me wonder did they know sort 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:38.040 of immediately or did they get the sense that because 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:41.000 everything I've read about you, Billy, there hasn't been like 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:43.760 a moment where you said mom and dad, I'm gay 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:46.600 or anything like that. Was that just something that they 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:49.439 sensed and accepted from the get go, or how did 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:53.280 that enter the whole sort of dynamic of your family. Well, 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:55.200 I did have to come out to them as everyone, 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:58.920 you know, as as you usually do, even though I 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:01.160 I had a feeling he knew I was gay from 0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:04.520 a young age. Um, but you still have to come out, 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:06.240 you know. I mean, I guess you don't have to, 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:09.800 But well, you know, I didn't know. They seemed so cool. 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:12.760 They might have even said, hey, are you know, Billy, 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:15.679 we we have this you know idea that you might 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:17.520 be gay and that's cool with us, do you know 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:20.360 what I mean. It's funny that you say that, Katie, 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:23.959 because the way I came out to my parents, it 0:13:24.120 --> 0:13:26.760 was they were so supportive, and look, it was I 0:13:26.840 --> 0:13:29.920 had a very happy childhood. Of course, they were human 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:32.520 beings and they were flawed, and it wasn't perfect by 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:37.000 any means, but um, when it came to me, they 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:43.040 really loved me so unconditionally and especially knowing. And this 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:45.559 is back in the eighties. It wasn't necessarily the norm 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:48.760 for the parents of a child who seemed like he 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:51.960 was most likely a gay kid to just have that 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:56.560 unconditional love without hesitation, you know. I mean, I don't 0:13:56.559 --> 0:13:59.720 think people remember how different it was back then. You know, 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:03.520 it's almost shocking when you think about it. But you know, 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:06.720 certainly for me growing up Billy, and then even for 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:09.560 you in the eighties and nineties, it was a very 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:12.920 different culture. It was. And I remember I was a 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:16.240 child in New York at the height of the AIDS epidemic, 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:19.440 so which as a child, of course, I only could 0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:22.880 understand to a certain degree. And this was long before 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:25.520 I was saying I was gay. But my parents certainly 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:30.040 understood it, um, And you know, I'm sure they had 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:33.840 fears around that in terms of my gainness at that time, 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:38.480 but even so, they they never put a stigma on it, 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:41.200 you know. Um, of course they wanted me to be happy, 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:43.640 and they were worried for any number of reasons, you know, 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:48.040 about my well being. But um, they were so great, 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:52.880 and I really think that they're the reason why a 0:14:52.920 --> 0:14:57.120 movie like Rose can happen for me personally, and why 0:14:57.160 --> 0:14:59.880 maybe not specifically this movie, but there why I was 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:02.800 able to stick with it for so long, you know, 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:06.360 especially in the lean years. You know. My mom died 0:15:06.400 --> 0:15:09.040 when I was twenty, about six months after I came 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:12.960 out to her. Um, she was just fifty four and 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:16.800 she had a heart attack. And that was so young. 0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:19.920 I was. I was, I was really young. And getting 0:15:19.920 --> 0:15:23.320 back to your story though about coming out, which happened 0:15:23.360 --> 0:15:26.160 for me, Like I said, I think it was, yeah, 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:30.520 about six months before she died, Um, she they came 0:15:30.520 --> 0:15:34.520 out to I went to Northwestern. I was a theater major, UM, 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:38.120 and I did a lot of musicals and they came 0:15:38.160 --> 0:15:40.600 to see me. I was playing Mr Mushnik in a 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:43.000 Little Shop of Horrors, which is not even the lead 0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:45.080 and they still flew from New York to see me 0:15:45.160 --> 0:15:49.760 in it. Um. And we went to dinner the next 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:55.119 night in Evanston, Illinois, where Northwestern is, and out of nowhere, 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:58.440 my mom, out of nowhere said, so are you dating 0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:03.760 anyone boy? Girl? Whatever? And that was and I said, 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:08.040 I remember looking down being like, oh god, here we go. 0:16:08.280 --> 0:16:11.120 Here we go at the Davis Street Fish Market, which 0:16:11.120 --> 0:16:16.320 is the restaurant we reading and um, and I said, no, Mom, 0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:20.360 I'm on dating anyone. And then we were going home 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:23.280 from that dinner and I my dad was driving me 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:26.120 back to my apartment and I said, okay, pull over, 0:16:27.160 --> 0:16:29.600 and I see he did, and I said, as it 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:36.240 turns out I'm gay and um, and they say, knocked 0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:39.200 me over with a feather. No, you know, they said, 0:16:39.520 --> 0:16:41.640 it was an emotional moment even when you all know, 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:44.840 it's still like there's such a weight being lifted off 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:48.840 of my shoulders that has probably been carried around for years, 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:51.520 you know. And at one point I did say to them, 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:55.360 I was like, guys, like you know you knew right, 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:57.600 you know. I was like, you took me to Barber 0:16:57.600 --> 0:17:00.520 Streisang concerts and you need a bet mid a radio 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:03.240 city music all and it took me to every Madonna 0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:08.439 concert and my father, classic Jaikener said, we discussed the possibility. 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:13.760 Um um. But they were great. And then he I 0:17:13.800 --> 0:17:16.480 do have a half brother who I didn't really grow 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:19.720 up with, but my dad's first child from his first marriage, 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:21.680 and and you know, we are in each other's lives, 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:23.239 but he was older than me, so we didn't grow 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:26.119 up together. And my dad's next question was, is your 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:30.200 brother gay? And I said, no, he's not gay at all. 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:32.600 But my brother had It was the late nineties, and 0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:34.720 he was he was a photographer and he had dyed 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:38.080 his hair peroxye blonde just to be like hip, you know, 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:40.240 and my dad and my dad said, as your brother 0:17:40.320 --> 0:17:42.520 gay And I said, no, Dad, Steve is not gay. 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:44.760 And he said he died as hip blonde. And I 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:47.919 was like, yeah, that's not that's not a reason he 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:51.440 might be gay. Um. And and they were and then 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:54.600 from then on they were great and um and then yeah, 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:58.480 my mom died six months after that, and but my dad. 0:17:58.600 --> 0:18:01.359 I did have an older dad's so he died about 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:03.520 ten years ago, but he was eighty already. He had 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:06.800 me later in life. He was older than my mom. Um, 0:18:06.840 --> 0:18:09.320 but even my dad, you know, because I was in 0:18:09.359 --> 0:18:12.040 my early thirties at that point, and I kept having 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:15.600 brushes with success, like I kept you know, I would 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:17.639 get a pilot, but I wouldn't get picked up, or 0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:20.439 you know, it was I was getting close but no cigar, 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:22.800 and everyone was telling me, I'm so talented and this 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:25.439 and that, and it's going to happen. But you know, 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:28.040 it's it's cute in your twenties, and in your thirties 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:31.360 you start to worry, right, And my dad did start 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:35.520 to worry more too. But even when he was worried, 0:18:35.680 --> 0:18:38.640 he always he always, at the end of the day said, 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:41.359 you have to keep going, you have to stick with it. 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:44.480 He just really believed in me. And it must be 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:48.639 pretty bitter sweet too. You know, here you've got this 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:54.480 major movie release happening, and um, you know, you must 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:57.040 wish that they could be here to celebrate with you. 0:18:57.600 --> 0:19:00.000 I wish they were here. I'd love to meet them 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:04.120 they were, Yes, of course I do. Yeah, I mean, 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:08.000 I just you know it it's comforting to know, though, 0:19:08.040 --> 0:19:12.240 I mean, you can dwell on the sad part of it, um, 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:15.719 but but honestly, whenever I think about them, I you know, 0:19:15.840 --> 0:19:17.520 not that I'm not sad, because of course I am, 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:19.280 and I wish they were here to to see all 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:23.399 of this, but I'm just feel so lucky, you know, 0:19:23.560 --> 0:19:25.879 like as as an adult, I have even more of 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:27.920 an a you know, I was like a kid, and 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:30.439 you know, didn't always appreciate it all and I was 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:32.640 just like moms their away from me and all that, 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:35.960 you know, as a teenager and all that. But looking back, 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:39.640 like I always think, God, I'm so lucky, and and 0:19:39.680 --> 0:19:44.119 the reason for all of my success, fundamentally it is 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:48.240 how supportive they were, um and how much they encouraged me. 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:50.760 And that's really the reason I was. I was able 0:19:50.800 --> 0:19:53.479 to hold on for so long and get to this moment. 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:57.879 I wanted to ask you about your early career because, 0:19:57.960 --> 0:20:01.280 as you said, it took you a to get your mojo, 0:20:01.320 --> 0:20:04.640 and you weren't really bullied. I know that you've said 0:20:04.680 --> 0:20:07.320 it's because you were tall and kind of an imposing guy, 0:20:07.520 --> 0:20:10.679 and you know, you didn't face a lot of a 0:20:10.760 --> 0:20:13.679 lot of I don't think it sounds like it people 0:20:13.720 --> 0:20:16.919 being mean. Yes, there was the occasional comment here and there, 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:20.680 but but as you started to go into show business 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:24.360 and after you graduated from Northwestern you found there were 0:20:24.480 --> 0:20:29.399 some pretty significant obstacles for a young gay man trying 0:20:29.400 --> 0:20:32.960 to make it in the entertainment business. What what were 0:20:33.040 --> 0:20:38.199 those exactly, Billy, Yeah, it's interesting. Um, Again, I was 0:20:38.280 --> 0:20:40.680 lucky as a kid. There were comments, and there were 0:20:40.680 --> 0:20:44.040 bullies and things, but it never got too extreme, and 0:20:44.080 --> 0:20:47.000 for some reason I was always able to shake it off. Again, 0:20:47.080 --> 0:20:48.679 probably had a lot to do with my parents, I 0:20:48.720 --> 0:20:50.840 was going to say, yeah, and also the culture I 0:20:50.880 --> 0:20:52.720 was exposed to at the time, and the fact that 0:20:52.760 --> 0:20:55.159 I grew up in New York City. So even though 0:20:55.840 --> 0:20:59.680 forest Tails not exactly excuse me, Queens is a borrow 0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:03.199 New York City, all right, Um, but my but my 0:21:03.320 --> 0:21:06.119 parents would take me into the city as we called 0:21:06.160 --> 0:21:09.440 it all the time, and we would go into Manhattan 0:21:09.440 --> 0:21:12.359 and and you know, I think that that exposed me 0:21:12.440 --> 0:21:15.040 to so much that I could shake off, you know, 0:21:15.119 --> 0:21:18.920 the bully at my local school, because I knew there 0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:23.440 was a much bigger world out there for me. Um. However, 0:21:24.160 --> 0:21:27.040 interestingly enough, it's when I got into that bigger world, 0:21:27.720 --> 0:21:31.200 specifically Hollywood and the entertainment industry in my twenties, as 0:21:31.280 --> 0:21:35.400 I started to develop a fan base and TV execs 0:21:35.440 --> 0:21:37.920 were coming to see my live comedy show in New York, 0:21:38.080 --> 0:21:40.479 and that's where the Billy on the Street videos started 0:21:40.480 --> 0:21:42.920 as part of that show, and and I was getting 0:21:42.920 --> 0:21:45.840 a lot of attention. But that's also the place where 0:21:45.880 --> 0:21:51.280 I really experienced homophobia for the first time in my life. 0:21:51.320 --> 0:21:54.480 It was professionally, you know, it wasn't physical, you know, 0:21:54.520 --> 0:21:59.199 one was beating me up physically, But there were the 0:21:59.320 --> 0:22:02.960 things that people said, overt things, more subtle things. There 0:22:03.040 --> 0:22:05.679 was a TV executive when we first sold Billy on 0:22:05.720 --> 0:22:08.080 the Street at the first cable network it was on, 0:22:08.119 --> 0:22:11.080 which was a very obscure network. But um, I wrote 0:22:11.080 --> 0:22:13.600 this silly little Billy on the Street jingle for it, 0:22:13.680 --> 0:22:16.159 and to this day, like the fans sing the song 0:22:16.359 --> 0:22:23.320 and it's like, you know, it's a silly little thing, 0:22:26.800 --> 0:22:29.440 but it started with a whistle that I guess kind 0:22:29.440 --> 0:22:33.080 of sounded a little disco ee. And the executive said 0:22:33.080 --> 0:22:35.480 to me, you know that can't be your theme song. 0:22:35.600 --> 0:22:40.320 This isn't logo and logo being the gay network, and 0:22:40.320 --> 0:22:42.320 and and but I mean little things like that. It 0:22:42.400 --> 0:22:44.520 was just so annoying to have to fight those battles. 0:22:44.560 --> 0:22:47.520 But then bigger things where I had a manager in 0:22:47.600 --> 0:22:52.040 two thousand six, very successful manager, UM, a straight woman 0:22:52.119 --> 0:22:55.840 in New York City who had a lot of Broadway clients, 0:22:55.880 --> 0:22:58.919 you know, a very which is obviously as a you know, 0:22:59.000 --> 0:23:01.480 as a ton of LGBT p Q folks in that community. 0:23:01.520 --> 0:23:04.760