How Jeff Hiller Smashed Gay TV Tropes on HBOs Somebody Somewhere

The show brings together a lot of people in the “friends with Bridget Everett” universe, like writers Paul Thureen and Hannah Bos, and drag star Murray Hill. Did you and Bridget know each other before the show?

We did know each other. I did a show at The Public Theater, and she is sort of the queen of [the theater’s cabaret venue] Joe’s Pub, and so she invited me to be a guest in one of her shows. I already knew who she was, so I was like, “Yes, please.” I thought that gave me an upper hand on this job, but since then every gay man over 40 has told me, “Yeah, I auditioned for [Joel] too.”

Well, congratulations then! That must be a tight market.

There’s only a few of us left. (Laughs)

You’ve done a lot of sitcoms, but here you get to blend realism and comedy; Joel is such a fleshed-out, sensitive, whole person. The show revolves around Bridgett’s character, Sam, but Joel gets to have his own depth and arcs as well.

It’s really thrilling. It’s unusual and the chance of a lifetime. I’m putting the “next week on…” teaser posts on my Instagram, and the first thing that happens is that sound with that HBO logo, and I get chills. “Wait, I’m on an HBO show?” It’s thrilling to not be the waiter, to have an inner life. It’s wonderful.

Bridget Everett has framed the show as “What if I hadn’t left Manhattan, Kansas for Manhattan, New York?” Are you from the Midwest? Do you also feel like the show parallels a would-be journey of yours — or are you and Joel distinct?

I wouldn’t say we’re all that distinct. There have been a lot of coincidences where I’ve read the script and thought, “Wow, this character is a lot like me.” I didn't grow up in the Midwest, I grew up in Texas, which is sort of like the Midwest with more guns. So I did grow up there and for me it was a place I needed to not continue to live in. 

But what I really love about this show is that there was a community that I had. I went to Texas Lutheran College in a small farming town, and there was this one female pastor who held church services on Saturday evenings where we’d have champagne and it was all queer folks. We found this community in the context of a faith community where we could be authentic, genuine people, and we were accepted. So when I read the pilot and saw this character who was gay — for the most part openly gay — and also a member of a faith community, I was shocked because you never see that on TV. I was also thrilled because I had seen that in my world and in my life. I can’t think of any other examples of a faith community on TV with queer people in it who aren’t being persecuted.

“It’s thrilling to not be the waiter, to have an inner life. It’s wonderful.”

It’s so rare. Joel also surpasses a lot of TV stereotypes. He’s kind of the “gay best friend,” but I also feel that phrase can be reductive. What did you make of him when you first read the scripts?

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