A Quick Drink With Billy Eichner

“I’m much too old for this.”

Billy Eichner, 46, is at a table upstairs at Off the Wagon, a sports bar in NYC’s West Village that’s most known as an NYU hangout. I’m talking to the actor/comedian after a day where a hyped-up Eichner has accosted New Yorkers with party invites and shouted random questions (“for a dollar, name a fruit”) . Although this time, his Billy on the Street revival is in the service of a partnership with the hard seltzer brand Truly.

The new product in question is Truly Unruly Lemonade, a selection of 8% ABV lemonade seltzers that come in a variety of flavors. “I like the Blue Razz,” Eichner says. “I like blue drinks. It’s almost embarrassing. But I’m a child. I mean, I’m in my mid-40s, but I love a blue drink.”

During the early evening launch party — taking place right before the NFL Draft, which is blasting throughout the two-floor venue — we sat down with the New York native to discuss his drink of choice and his eclectic career, which includes early fame with Billy on the Street, several acclaimed TV and film roles (Bros, Difficult People, American Crime Story), an upcoming movie from award-winning director Ethan Coen, and an Amazon flick with Will Ferrell and Zac Efron.

InsideHook: I know you grew up in New York. Were these the types of bars you’d go to in New York?

Billy Eichner: I grew up in Forest Hills, but I went to high school in Manhattan, downtown in Stuyvesant. We studied a lot and didn’t go to bars. I didn’t get drunk until I was in college, and then I continued getting drunk for decades, right up until tonight, probably. But my favorite bar, growing up? Oh, man, that was a long time ago. One of my first gay bars, that just closed after 30 years, was called Barracuda on 22nd and 8th, and everyone’s sad that it’s gone. But it was a legendary place and a very formative place for gay men of a certain generation.

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They’re showing the NFL Draft in here. Are you a sports fan?

I don’t even know what that is. But I loved WWF wrestling as a kid. And I was obsessed with the 1986 New York Mets because they won the World Series. And I grew up right near what was Shea Stadium and is now Citi Field. So whenever I have to name a baseball player, it’s always one of the 1986 New York Mets who ended up in jail. They were heroes.

What’s your association with Truly?

We shot a Billy on the Street-style video today to promote Truly Unruly Lemonade. I did it because I thought the brand made sense — it’s about being unruly and chaotic. And that fit Billy on the Street.

Did you ever have a Billy on the Street situation that turned bad?

I don’t think we ever had one that we couldn’t show because it turned bad. A lot of people ask me if I ever got punched. I think those people haven’t spent a lot of time in New York because — I’m not saying it’s everyone’s favorite thing when I get up in their face — no one’s gonna punch me. And I like it when people give it back to me, that’s what makes the best clips. If someone has an attitude with me, I’m all for it.

I know you went to Northwestern. My brief experiences in Evanston, Illinois convinced me it was a terrible drinking town.

You’re very wrong about that! We had a bunch of local bars that we would go to all the time. And we were 20 minutes from Chicago. That’s where, admittedly, more of the formative gay bars were for me. They were all in Boystown, and a lot of those bars are still there. Sidetrack is one of the great gay bars in the world, and it’s still there.

I realize you’re promoting Truly, but what’s your drink of choice when you go out to a bar?

I’ve become a whiskey drinker in my old age. Which I’ve heard is worse for you! The common thinking is that clear alcohol is not as bad for you. But I get a much worse hangover from vodka or Martinis than I do from whiskey. Maybe it’s doing other terrible things to me, but it feels great in the moment. I like a whiskey and soda. Sometimes I drink it neat. And sometimes I’m a trashy slut and I drink a Maker’s and Diet Coke.

Not related to drinking, but I just saw that you’re doing a movie with Ethan Coen.

Yeah, it’s for a movie called Honey Don’t with Margaret Qualley, Chris Evans and Aubrey Plaza. I’m not one of the leads, but I got to work with Ethan Coen and that is pretty amazing. I was intimidated at first, but he was really sweet and supportive. I was just kind of in shock to be on the set with one of the Coen brothers. I grew up watching their movies. I think it’s gonna premiere at Cannes.

Is there a role you’ve done you’d like to revisit? I say that because I’m a huge Difficult People fan.

Actually, when we were shooting Billy on the Street today, this woman went off on how much she loved Difficult People. A lot of people really love that show. I wish they’d given us another season. I think [creator/co-star] Julie Klausner did an amazing job. It’s always nice when people mention that show. I know you’re a smart person if you watched and loved that show. It’s kind of a test.

I also loved playing Matt Drudge on American Crime Story. It was such a different role for me. I’ve played a lot of roles with Ryan Murphy, including the American Horror Story series. I love Ryan. He’s a groundbreaking figure for LGBTQ folks.

You’re on a few animated series. Is it harder or easier to just do a voice?

It’s just different. It’s a very heightened world, so it’s liberating. You don’t have to be worried about being over the top. Like on Bob’s Burgers, playing a librarian who hates books is so funny. His whole thing is he’s got the loudest whisper. I never hurt my voice screaming on Billy on the Street, but doing that aggressive whisper is a very hard thing to do. It wears out my throat!

How close are you in real life to the person we see on Billy on the Street?

I’m pretty much the exact opposite. My close friends who saw me do that were in shock because they knew me as a theater major from Northwestern. I was doing Chekov and Shakespeare and musicals. And then I went out and created this outlandish cartoon of a character, who is so loud and larger than life.

Is there an age you couldn’t do that anymore?

I think that age was 10 or 15 years ago.