LOS ANGELES 鈥� Many viewers first met Billy Eichner in his guise as a manic quizmaster hammering pedestrians with cockamamie pop-culture queries like 鈥淲hen Matt Damon daydreams he鈥檚 running for the Senate, what state does he imagine he鈥檚 in?鈥� and 鈥淲here were YOU when Kelly Osbourne left Fashion Police鈥�?
Eichner鈥檚 breathless Billy on the Street premi猫red on Fuse in 2011, then moved to truTV, where its fifth season hit the pavement last fall (and is up for an Emmy as outstanding variety sketch series).
Along the way, Eichner鈥檚 career as an actor has blossomed. Now he can be as hard to miss in his TV acting roles as he was on the street accosting puzzled passers-by.
He鈥檚 co-starring in the third season of Difficult People, the Hulu comedy where he and Julie Klausner play 30-something besties bonding in a snark attack on New York and the entertainment world they lackadaisically are trying to break into.
In Netflix鈥檚 comedy series Friends from College, he appears alongside co-stars including Fred Savage, Cobie Smulders and Keegan-Michael Key as a grumpy gynecologist.
And for something a little different, this week he bows as a supporting player on the second episode of American Horror Story: Cult (airing on FX Tuesday at 10 p.m.). No spoilers here. Let鈥檚 just say Eichner plays a quirky next-door neighbour of series star Sarah Paulson who keeps bees and likes guns.
Cult takes its cue from the election of President Donald Trump, which itself constitutes an American horror story in the eyes of the series.
Trump鈥檚 presidency 鈥渋s a topic that everybody鈥檚 talking about every single day,鈥� says Eichner, 鈥渂ut it certainly hasn鈥檛 been talked about in this way. To combine political commentary with the horror and gore that American Horror Story is known for is, I think, really cool.鈥�
To discover Eichner off the Street, performing in roles other than his Billy alter ego, is to be surprised. And impressed. A commanding figure at six-foot-three with woeful eyes and a mouth that seems to alternately signal pique and wry amusement, he has much more to offer than his hysteric Street performance.
鈥淚鈥檓 not sure people knew that acting was in my bag of tricks,鈥� the 38-year-old Eichner says over a quiet cup of coffee on a recent day off from Cult filming. 鈥淏ut no one grows up saying 鈥業 want to do Billy on the Street.鈥� That was just a funny idea I had, and thank God it got me in the door. But when I was growing up, I wanted to be some combination of Nathan Lane and John Malkovich.鈥�
For him, the seeds were planted growing up in New York, the son of parents who loved the arts and show biz. His accountant dad read him the newspaper gossip columns by Liz Smith and Cindy Adams and together they watched Entertainment Tonight. With his parents, he saw movies and attended Broadway shows.
He appeared in school plays and took voice lessons, then headed for Northwestern University鈥檚 legendary drama school.
After graduation, back in New York, Eichner鈥檚 scramble began.
鈥淚 remember standing on some crazy line for an audition for some regional musical and seeing how many people there were. I thought, 鈥楾his can鈥檛 be the only way in!鈥� 鈥�
He set about writing his own stage show, called Creation Nation. It took the form of a late-night TV talk show 鈥� he played the excitable host 鈥� and it was staged all over town to increasing popularity.
As one of the evening鈥檚 bits, he introduced a pre-taped segment called Billy on the Street.
鈥淭he initial conceit, and it still makes me laugh, is the idea that I am interrupting normal people heading to work or the dentist or otherwise going about their day, and I鈥檓 forcing them to talk to me about Cate Blanchett! That becomes a comment on my own love-hate obsession with the entertainment industry.鈥�
A TV series version naturally followed, which led to Difficult People, whose co-star and creator, Klausner, had first partnered with Eichner as a Billy on the Street producer.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a flavour that just wasn鈥檛 out there before,鈥� Klausner said. 鈥淗e makes choices that nobody else does. He commits like nobody else does. He never goes for the obvious thing.鈥�
When time allows, he hopes to be back on the street as Billy 鈥� a character who by now, says Eichner, has come into his own.
鈥淗e was commenting on pop culture before, but now he鈥檚 PART of pop culture,鈥� Eichner says. 鈥淚鈥檓 very proud of that. And I never in a million years would have thought that he would be my entry into acting.鈥�
Even so, Eichner feels like he鈥檚 just getting started.
鈥淣ow I鈥檓 trying to become the guy that I always intended to become prior to 鈥橞illy on the Street.鈥� Giving it time and trusting the process and then delivering: I get what has to happen for me to be where I want to be.鈥�
Where does he want to be?
鈥淎 lot of places.鈥� A hearty laugh. 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 very aware of the work it鈥檚 gonna take to get there.鈥�
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