Billy Eichner Talks 'Difficult People'

If you caught any of the episodes of Hulu's "Difficult People," you know that the show continues with the fabulously bitchy misadventures of gay guy Billy (Billy Eichner) and his straight BFF, Julie (Julie Klausner).

In this, the show's second season, Billy continues to look for love, while both he and Julie are looking for their big career break, there's more laughs to be had and that includes this week's episode, which is airing now on streaming network, Hulu.

On this season's third episode, it's Coming Out Day and while we find out a bit about the past of Billy's gay sassy co-worker, Matthew (Cole Escola), Billy also pretends to have just come out and gets the attention of a sexy guy, played by guest star Mark Consuelos. Meanwhile, Julie gets some love from Jersey girls and decides to do some pretending of her own to keep the new friendships going.

EDGE talked to Billy Eichner about the new season of "Difficult People" as well as his recent Provincetown vacation and more "Billy on the Street" coming soon.

'Coming Out Day'

EDGE: The show is getting great reviews and while there are people who always say they don't read their own press, you obviously do.

Billy Eichner: I don't take any particular review to heart so deeply that it would ruin my day. I have fans and the people who get it, get it and the people who don't, don't. There's so much criticism out there, good and bad, 24/7, it all kind of evens itself out in an interesting way. When I was growing up, if the New York Times gave you a bad review, you were kind of done and if they gave you a great review, your career was made at least in the terms of starting out and a new show coming out.

EDGE: I love how the show tackles Coming Out Day but you go against the PC-ness of it with a grain of truth there, too. How do you approach a subject like that?

Billy Eichner: Julie writes the scripts with a handful of other writers, Scott King, our showrunner, but I am not among those people. When it comes to my own storylines, they do run the plots by me once the scripts are almost done just to make sure I'm cool with everything. I do come to set and I contribute jokes and alternate punchlines and we improvise a little bit, me and Julie, so those ideas start with Julie and then I get to chime in later on.

In terms of this episode, I thought it was really funny and what I love about the show is we're depicting, I think, a less self-righteous, self-serious version of gay people and LGBT people in general and women when it comes to Julie and her mother so we are not walking on eggshells with anyone. We do see more gay characters on TV certainly than we did years ago but I still think people are a little afraid to make them mean or to give them a certain sharp sense of humor because it's important to show that gay people are 'normal' and 'likeable' and 'relatable.' That's been, I think that's the goal, with gay people on TV.

What Julie has created is something pretty groundbreaking and very fresh and that's what turns me on about it. Yes, we're gay. Yes, we have a trans character this season but she's allowed to be as mean, bitter and delusional as the rest of us and that is one of my favorite additions this season is Shakina (Nayfack, who plays Lola), who from the beginning announces she's transgender but she also thinks that 9/11 was an inside job. She is a 'trans truther' when it comes to 9/11 and when Julie told me about that twist, I could not stop laughing because we've just never seen anything like that.

Look, there's a time for political correctness and certainly there's a lot going on in the world right now which requires that kind of thinking when it comes to the law, when it comes to what's happening out there on the ground, on the street, everyday in the real world. But I also think there's a time to sit back and laugh at yourself and your shortcomings and your bitterness and your insecurities and I think 'Difficult People' is really tapping into that, specifically when it comes to LGBT characters and things we haven't seen.

What's coming up

EDGE: What else are we seeing later in the season?

Billy Eichner: I love the Mark Consuelos storyline a lot so I'm excited for people to see that. Somehow, Julie knows more about the nuances of gay culture and living life as a gay man, particularly in a big city, than I do sometimes. I don't know how but she just does. She's very interested and has always loved the gay community and has always felt a kinship with them.

In the episode, Billy decides to announce in a bar that he's just come out because he thinks that's more attractive to other gay guys at the bar. Then I also take on a more stereotypically gay guy persona. While I'm dating him I lower my voice and I change my behavior and I act dumber than I am. I think that actually taps into something interesting about gay guys and people in general when you want to seem hot and you think that means changing your behavior. I think that applies to gay guys in particular and I love that whole storyline. I go on a lot of dates this season. I end up unknowingly dating someone that I work with in the caf� so that happens and, of course, everything always goes awry.

Also, one of my favorite episodes, Julie and I do our own version of 'Hamilton' and Lin-Manuel Miranda is in the episode because I end up lying and telling people on the postcard that we're using to promote the show that Lin-Manuel said it was better than 'Hamilton.' I quote him on the postcard, which is, of course, a complete lie and he comes to find us because he's furious. You also see a couple of bits of musical numbers with me and Julie and Cole from this fictional musical that we do. I hope people like it as much as I do.

Back on the street

EDGE: I saw that you were in Provincetown during the July 4th week and you posted a shirtless pic! You look great!

Billy Eichner: Thank you!

EDGE: Was it vacation for you or were you working?

Billy Eichner: No work at all. It was a vacation. I was there for a week with a bunch of good friends in a house. I did Ptown about four or five times before this but it had been awhile. My life has gotten very busy these past few years and I'm very thankful for that but it doesn't leave you with a lot of free time. This is the first year I managed to convince them to give me a week off in the middle of shooting 'Billy on the Street' and I went there for a week. No work at all.

I love Provincetown and it's been a few years that I've been there and I loved it even more. Those first four days, things are very crowded over July 4th but then it calms down and it's really beautiful. It was interesting to be there when so much terrible news was breaking out in the rest of the country about Dallas and Baton Rouge and all of that intensity. It was really remarkable to be in Ptown, which is such a utopian environment in many ways. It was an interesting juxtaposition.

EDGE: What's the timing for more 'Billy on the Street?'

Billy Eichner: We're in production right now and then it will be on in the fall, 10 episodes on TruTV. 'Billy on the Street' has never been available to be streamed before on any streaming service until now but now the first four seasons are available on Hulu.

EDGE: So you're basically taking over Hulu.

Billy Eichner: Hulu has not confirmed this but I announced on Twitter that I am now the crown jewel of Hulu. You can quote me on that.

New episodes of "Difficult People" air every Tuesday on Hulu. "Billy on the Street" will air on TruTV this fall.