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[Laughs] What-everdo you want to bring up?
People are having fun with this piece askingif you could cookor not.
I maintain a healthy amount of ignorance.
So I am aware, but Im not engaging or indulging in them too much.
I mean, what am I going to do, cry about it?
I have to laugh!
It just goes with the territory.
I signed up for this.
Its like buying a hot dog in Central Park.
From my vantage point, its mostly lighthearted.
But is it strange to be talked about not so much as a person as much as a character.
Is that a weird mind-fuck?Yes!
Thats actually a good word for it.
I have to sort of detach myself.
Instagram has beenblowing up.
One thing is, my boyfriend reads me little parts ofthe Vulture recapsof every episode.
The first time I heard about it, I was in utter shock.
But then when he started reading more of them, theyre actually hilarious and so funny!
We have to take it for what it is, because it is entertaining.
Thanks, Mom and Dad, but I had nothing to do with that!
Its just people being bitchy, catty, looking for fodder and trying to get attention.
I kind of feel like Im back in kindergarten with a bunch of people who have university degrees.
So Im staying in my lane and Im just focusing on the next thing, working on my recipes.
Now were going to get to the part that I really want to get to.
Are all the T-shirts yours?Im so glad that you asked me that!
So have you heard ofA Little Life?
[He holds up his tote bag.]
[Looks at his manager] I dont care if Im going off topic, this is important.
So picture it: I come back from L.A. after our premiere.
Hes like, Holy shit, get on Instagram, go to Hanyas account right now.
I sent her a DM and we just start chatting.
Her book has such an important place in my life.
When I met with stylists, the show creators were like, Youre NYC.
Youre jeans and T-shirts.
Were keeping it simple for you.
I was like, Great, T-shirts are all I fucking wear anyway.
So whats my favorite band?
The Strokes and the National.
I already owned a couple, but they sent over even more.
Then I was like, Okay, were busting out the Hanya T-shirts.
and I was like, Yeah, of course, send them over!
What did it say?Something like, Thank you for carrying the message of the book.
But there are still moments of beauty within that as well.
When did you first readA Little Life?My dear friend recommended the book.
This was right when it came out.
I immediately fell in love with the book.
It took me a while to read it because I put it down a lot.
Where would you read it?Im a subway reader.
I dont really sit when Im at home.
We live in a studio and I really spend time with my boyfriend Joey there.
I dont get to do quiet time.
Its really just when Im on the train or in a car, mostly on subways.
Those were things I could relate to on a pretty personal level.
I constantly find myself jumping between, Am I Jude or am I a Willem?
So I just find myself vacillating between the two characters.
It made a lot of this stuff less lonely.
Im going to keep it a little general and leave it at that.
I read it in, like, five days.How?
I could not put the book down.You masochist!
I mean, I kind of am too.
Well, I did feel like my relationship with the book was masochistic.
Did you feel that way at all?I think so.
Before that, it was always a lot of Milan Kundera existentialism, and I love reading about alcoholics.
Im a big Hemingway and Salinger fan.
So this was different.
On the original BritishOffice, it feels uncomfortable to watch because itssoinappropriate.
It felt like that, but on a more emotional, heartstring level.
Did you cry on the subway?Oh, yeah.
I mean, its not a challenge for me to cry if youve seen the show.
I can tell youre puffy and makeup was trying to cover it up!
The book comes up constantly in my life.
Have you had those moments where random people talk to you about the book?
People get very passionate about it.Yes.
Ive sent it to my father, my boyfriends mom, who indulges in my sensibility.
Its really beautiful, and its a really important story.
And when Willem finally gets his big part, I kind of feel like Im experiencing that right now.
Its an emotional time, a very positive time, but its also very weird.
You said you feel like part Willem and part Jude.
And I want to be like Jude in that I definitely want to be better at baking.
It wasnt anything I felt the need to explore until the time came to explore it.
I had much more encounters with women than I had with men.
Ive only had two meaningful relationships with men.
I dated one guy, and then I saw women for several years.
Now Ive been with my boyfriend for seven years.
Each relationship I was in suited the person I was at the time.
Some of it was really good and some of it was really destructive.
But I feel like it all made sense at the time.
I wouldnt go and change anything.
I dont think anyone protests or is shocked by it.
They treat it like anything else, which is the world I want to live in.
Thats how I feel, and its why I dont often talk about sexuality.
It was something that felt so personal.
But maybe thats what being gay, or queer, is, right?
[whispers Queer].
Like, I was too ashamed to say the word because it felt like a dirty, terrible word!
My boyfriend joked in a kind, sweet way, You definitely got gayer over the summer!
and I was like, Yeah, I guess I did!
And Im totally okay with that!
Is this the first time youve been surrounded by a gay cohort or community?Yes.
Actually, thats not true anymore.
The older that I get, the more I feel Im the same person with everybody.
she said, Youre AJ.
She just loves him unconditionally, and thats a choice she makes to love him.
There is no judgment there.
Shes a really religious person with crosses all over her house.
I was actually really worried about how she was going to react.
I wish I had a little more of in my life growing up, in certain stages.
Im glad we got to show that.
Thats what a parental figure can be like.
Its the whole idea of how your parents are an accident of birth.
We get to create that for ourselves.
My father has seen it and hes very quiet about it.
Hes like, I think its very cool what youre doing.
Hes not a man of too many words.
Hes very cerebral, very Dostoevsky.
He hosted a big viewing party with 40 family members and they all watched it.
He had no idea before he watched it what it was about!
He had no clue.
But he loves it when I talk about food, and hes always loved when I talk about food.
I think hes proud.
