BenitoSkinnerIsReadytoGoDeeper

Benito Skinner and Owen Thiele want you to start holding hands again.

 

WRITER Patrick Grady

 

Interview taken from IMAGINE Magazine. Order the latest issue here.

 

Chaotic. Cunty. Camaraderie. Three words that sum up this conversation between Overcompensating co-stars, and, more importantly, best friends – Benito Skinner and Owen Thiele.

 

You may think, what would there be left to talk about when they’re already as close as it gets, have starred in a show together and are now writing their own movie (yes, you read that right)? Well, buckle up. The pair, who first met at a restaurant with their respective partners, quickly became intertwined in each other’s personal and professional lives. So much so, Thiele, known for Adults,  made a lasting impression as George, the lovable gay fairy godmother, in Skinner’s semi-biographical Amazon Prime series Overcompensating. Looking ahead, it’s almost as impossible to picture Benny without George (Thiele’s character) as it is to picture Benny without Owen IRL.

 

As they chat, the conversation jumps to where things might pick up in season two, the return of platonic intimacy, and their unabashed obsession with nostalgia, cult teen movies and the pop girlies that have paved the way for these two to own their spotlight.

 

Benito wears LOEWE t-shirt & trousers

Owen Thiele: So, first of all, where are you right now, Benny?

 

Benito Skinner: I’m in Cape Cod. Isn’t that crazy?! I’m on vacation but no one believes I’m actually on vacation.

 

OT: I believe you. By the way, you’re posting the hottest things ever.

 

BS:  It kind of seems like I’m fully on vacation alone and I’m just wearing outfits and walking around the property – which isn’t inaccurate, I guess. I’m just doing it to get your attention. I miss you.

 

OT: And I swipe up every damn time.

 

BS: When you heart it, I’m like, “Got him”.

 

OT: Wait, let’s dive into this amazing show that you made that you very kindly put me in and that I love so deeply. Even if I wasn’t in it, I would love it.  So obviously, Overcompensating is about your life. How the hell did you remember it all? Did you write it all down when it was happening?

 

BS:  You know what’s funny? I’m rereading The Velvet Rage right now, which is this life changing book, and I think everyone should read it, especially gay men. There’s this part of it where the author talks about that stage in your life of being in the closet and then, as you tiptoe out of the closet, how those relationships stay with you for the rest of your life. Falling in love with a straight man and meeting my best girlfriend in college are all things that are in my DNA at this point. I’m completely blanking on the author name [Alan Downs] because I really don’t read that much, sadly.  I went back to old Facebook albums. I watched old videos of me talking with such a low register. It’s so disorienting and so cringe. And unfortunately, I’ve used my phone and filmed just about everything in my life, so I had a lot of footage.

 

“I think the experiences were traumatic at the time. I was scared at how I would feel looking back, but then I was so relieved in the end. I started to forgive myself for some of the things I did.”

 

OT: I feel that. Did it ever feel really weird to dive back into that headspace? Like, “ Holy shit. I’m straight again and I need to break out of this.”

 

BS:  I think the experiences were traumatic at the time. I was scared at how I would feel looking back, but then I was so relieved in the end. I started to forgive myself for some of the things I did.  I remember when we were going to shoot the end of episode five, I had this really strange experience where I sat in my trailer and I was like, “Oh, this is really sad.” I was trying to get back into that feeling and then I had this really beautiful moment where I was like, “How lucky am I that I get to do this?”

 

OT: Ben, if you could take one scene from the show and put it into a snow globe that you could look back on forever, what one would you choose?

 

BS:  I love the black parade montage. That was so fun to shoot and partially get to be a part of the creative direction.  It’s such a cathartic scene of truth. People who have tried so hard to be loved in all the wrong ways, but for the right reasons.  I haven’t watched the show since we turned in the final edit, but I’ve had this desire to go back and rewatch some scenes now that I’ve had some space from it and like get to like, ’cause people have told me their favorite moments and kind of get to go back and now see it as a show.  I also love us laughing in the finale. I think that one’s really sweet before it gets sad.

OT:  What you did on set was incredible. You cultivated the most loving, free environment where none of us felt embarrassed to do anything. Like we would’ve stripped naked and spread our asses for you because the environment that you created and cultivated was so warm. Thank you. It was just perfect, Benny.  Even the craziest scenes that I can think of didn’t feel crazy at all while shooting because we were surrounded by friends, you know?

 

BS: Completely.  I remember when we were doing the scene where you tell Benny that you’re not friends and I really do think that it’s such a gift to be able to do it with friends. Especially because those scenes are hard to do and they make you feel sick.  I love that scene where you’re with Wally [Baram] and she’s watching porn and just, I, I wasn’t there that morning, but I remember getting a text from Wally and she’s like, “I can see why you guys are best friends.”

 

OT:  She’s amazing. Switching gears a little, but it’s a question that I’ve never asked you and I always hear actors ask other actors this, so I just need to ask you.

 

BS: This is so our Actors on Actors.

 

OT: It’s our Actors on Actors, but we’ve made it Hot Ones Versus.

 

BS: A hundred percent.

 

OT:  My love. What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten from somebody in this business?

 

BS: I remember Natalie Portman had this really great quote a long time ago, “My pet peeve is people saying, ‘I know exactly how you feel’, nobody knows exactly how you feel.” I weirdly find that quote very helpful. I really try to avoid having expectations of people, specifically, how they’re going to feel or how they’ll react to something. I think it’s about trusting your gut. I think everyone feels a little imposter syndrome; it’s very common for queer people to show up in these spaces and feel like we have so much to prove. I think I’ve let go of perfectionism. I’ve always done things alone, I filmed and edited all of my videos alone, obviously, I did stand-up alone so to trust people enough with something I was creating was really special.  I knew it was always gonna be Mary Beth [Barone] as my sister, and I knew it was gonna be you as George.

 

OT: Since the day I met you in that restaurant, while I downed a piece of grilled salmon, I was like, “This kid is so fucking talented and so brilliant.” It seems like you’ve always had an instinct for all things pop culture. In your head, what will be the next thing to rock our world?

 

BS:  I will say with the dawn of Taylor Swift’s new album coming, I did think that a form of recession pop was looming where someone was gonna make an album that was all bangers and it was just about joy. It’s not that I don’t think that cunty will still be a part of the lexicon and a part of culture, but I think things feel a bit more friendly and like we are all kind of coming more into our communities and trying to help each other out and be like, sweet. I think there will maybe be less of an addiction to being like a serve, you know what I mean?

 

“Cringe is so back. A vibe of corny and cringe is so delicious right now, like, I need that. It’s so fun.”

 

OT:  One hundred percent. I’ve been saying for years, we have to start holding hands again.

 

BS: That was literally us at [Lady] Gaga, we were like, “Why don’t you just hold me?”

 

OT: Right! I remember it perfectly, there were literal tears falling down our faces and we were like “.. and we’re crying.” We were announcing the fact that we were crying. That’s so back

 

BS: Cringe is so back. A vibe of corny and cringe is so delicious right now, like, I need that. It’s so fun.

 

OT: I wanna see long ass captions again.

 

BS:  I want quotes from a book highlighted and posted to grid and, I would say like one photo on grid that’s gonna be huge. And I know you and I can do it.

 

OT: Ben, obviously, we’re so close now. You’re literally one of my best friends in the whole world. Do you think you and I would’ve been friends in college?

 

BS: Maybe not at first. I think maybe it would’ve been a Benny and George situation. I would have been so lucky to have you in my life back then. What’s weird is that, through this process, we kind of have gone back to college in a way. It does feel like I got to do a redo. I think about the fact Adults and Overcompensating exist, and will live on forever.

 

OT: You opening that door, looking the hottest you’ve ever looked, will forever be on Prime Video. So that’s that.

 

BS:  [Laughs] And your ass cheeks with Julia Fox. Like, sorry. It’s been a huge year.

OT: So, Ben, I was of course a fan of yours before meeting you, and then to become friends and work with you on your show, and now to be writing a movie together is crazy. What can we say about that without giving it away?

 

BS:  I mean, I’m kind of fine to give everything away. Do you know what I mean? It’s so us to give everything away.

 

OT: What are we excited about?

 

BS:  Writing this with you, this is maybe the first time where I fully know who’s playing the specific parts and getting to write to someone’s voice, I think is so inspiring. Knowing the wheelhouse of somebody and what would be unexpected for them and also what they could just do in their sleep.  It’s funny what you just said about if we had been friends in school, that is so the ethos of this. For some background, people might want to know,  you and I were getting drinks somewhere and we got chatting about the idea of, “What if we had been in each other’s lives forever? Like, who would we have been? What would my life have been like if I met you in kindergarten?”  This movie is an exploration of two gay men who have had a beautiful friendship and the protection of each other, which allows them to be themselves.

 

OT: What would you say is the inspiration behind our project?

 

BS:  Well, we talked a little bit about Romy and Michele. I don’t think you get better than that film. I’d say Paris, Texas, definitely.

 

OT: What’s so funny is you’ll send me  gorgeous Pinterest boards with the most gorgeous images I’ve ever seen in my life. And literally, I will scroll thinking there’ll be 12 images and it’ll be like 200 images. They never end.

 

BS: My entire being is making Pinterest boards. The Velvet Rage is another one, and then early Andy Warhol, right now. Your podcast as well, that shrine of the girlies was my dream wall growing up.

 

Benito wears MARTINE ROSE t-shirt, ABERCROMBIE & FITCH trousers, stylist’s own boots

 

OT: We’re big nostalgia kids. Anything nostalgic gets our dicks hard.

 

BS: No, honestly.

 

OT: I know you can’t say much about a season two, but tell me how are Benny and Carmen?

 

BS:  Oh my God. I think they both have so much to experience both together and separately. That’s something I’m really sitting with a lot, especially in terms of Carmen. I’ve been thinking maybe less about just her relationship with Benny, but more about the relationship with her parents and her whole backstory. I think we just skimmed the surface of grief and what that is like for someone, specifically someone who’s in this coming-of-age period in their life. That’s what I’m thinking. What does it look like when they’re separate and have to figure out this new version of themselves?  Right now, I’m very inspired by the music around and what kind of songs we’re gonna do.  Also, spring break. You’re so not ready. God knows what I’m gonna make you wear for spring break. Sorry. Get ready for that Pinterest board.

 

OT: You should see the actual pictures of me on spring break. Wait, I’ll send them to you.

 

BS: No stop, literally send them to me right now.

 

OT:  How lucky are we? I would work with you for the rest of my life, my love.

 

BS: And you’re gonna. Sorry. You’re so brilliant, and I absolutely love you.