5 years in the past, when British Vogue described Benito Skinner as “the one humorous factor to occur in 2020,” the then-27-year-old comic, actor, and author credited popping out with bettering his work and serving to him discover his voice.
“I used to be not humorous within the closet,” he stated on the time. “I used to be simply unhappy.” It’s considerably ironic, then, that Skinner has channeled his expertise as a closeted school pupil at Georgetown College into his rollicking new Prime Video comedy, Overcompensating.
The collection, which premiered in Might, stars Skinner as a model of his youthful self. His character, Benny, is a closeted former highschool soccer participant attempting to navigate his first yr on the fictional Yates College whereas concealing his sexuality from his pals and fraternity brothers.
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The collection, which Skinner additionally wrote and produced, provides a refreshingly unsentimental tackle the shopworn popping out narrative that nonetheless holds area for the way difficult accepting one’s sexuality may be. Connie Britton and Kyle McLachlan seem as Benny’s mother and father, with a cameo by James Van Der Beek for a nod to Gen X viewers.
Because the title suggests, Overcompensating can be a wild, exaggerated spoof of the lengths a few of us—each queer and straight—will go to to slot in and stay as much as gender expectations.
“I really feel just like the villain of the present in quite a lot of methods is that this dependancy to masculinity,” Skinner advised Vanity Fair in February. “I believe that everybody feels that, not simply queer individuals.”
The undertaking additionally serves as each a departure and a breakthrough for Skinner. As Man About Town put it not too long ago, the 31-year-old is basically “graduating” from social media star to a significant rising voice in queer comedy.
“I really feel just like the one factor individuals haven’t seen from me but is one thing extra like this character,” Skinner advised Flaunt, “which feels extra like me and my story, extra stripped down. And there may be comedy in that.”
Skinner first burst onto social feeds just below a decade in the past, his unique character sketches and movie star impressions steadily amassing over 1,000,000 followers on Instagram. His takes on the Kardashians, Lana Del Rey, Billie Eilish, and different “divas,” he’s defined, are rooted in homosexual males’s obsession with larger-than-life girls. However he’s been clear that his parodies come from a spot of affection.
“I need my comedy to really feel like a good friend is providing you with s**t,” he advised The Guardian in 2020. “I by no means need it to get too imply as a result of I don’t suppose that’s humorous. However a veneer is all the time enjoyable to poke at.”
In 2018, with a rising profile, Skinner started touring a one-person present (additionally titled Overcompensating), drawing on his school years within the closet, whereas adapting among the materials right into a pilot script. In 2022, Prime Video announced that Skinner was creating his script for the streamer with A24 and Jonah Hill’s manufacturing firm, and with none aside from Charli XCX offering unique music. The Brat icon additionally makes a visitor look in a single episode as an exaggerated model of herself.
Charli XCX’s rating additionally options vocals from the “Growth Clap” singer and Amber Bain, which provides to the collection’ depiction of what it’s prefer to wrestle with one’s sexual identification.“I may hear the suppression of the voices all through,” Skinner defined to Flaunt. “Like Amber [Bain] and Charli’s voices try to get by means of. And that’s what it feels prefer to be, I believe, within the closet or to really feel like individuals don’t love you or they received’t love you in the event that they know who you actually are.”
Skinner has stated he wrote Overcompensating in the beginning to make individuals snigger. However he additionally hopes that LGBTQ+ followers will see themselves and their struggles within the characters.
“I actually wished queer individuals to see their expertise and the complicatedness of that have,” he advised Self-importance Honest. “Not that I don’t suppose that exists, however I simply really feel like each time it was a lot extra difficult to come back out than I’ve seen.”
Skinner has additionally alluded that he already has three extra seasons mapped out, giving him ample time to mirror on all of the highs, lows, and absurdities of closeted school life.
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