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Where are your dragons?You know what?
Honestly, I really think I have some, because look at me!
Are you going to do the final season ofGay of Thrones?Yeah, for sure.
That is not going to bethe road that it takes, obviously.
note:Van Ness hasnicknamesfor eachGOTcharacter.
Lena Dunham is Yara Greyjoy.]
Arya] continue to work her way down herKill Billlist.
HavingJon arrive to the island so quickly, things like that never used to happen.
How did you get onQueer Eye?
You mean Kyan?Yeah.
If you have body hair, Im like, Have your body hair.
Have it sticking up the top of your shirt.
But I really wanted to be involved in it becauseQueer Eyewas just something I loved so much.
Did you watch it?Oh my God, yeah.
Im from a really little town called Quincy, five hours southwest of Chicago.
That andQueer As FolkandWill and Gracewas all of my queer content.
Sure, sure.I was just dying for a topless scene.
I was like,yo.
Because all else we had was like Bowflex commercials.
You know, we were so starved back then.
And its like covering up is sexy.
Its all about the opposite now.
Do you feel pressure looking a certain way as a gay man?Yes.
The third comment I ever read ofGay of Throneswas like, He loves more than three things.
He lovesGame of Thrones, something something, and beer.
Look at that gut.
I never meant to be on camera, and seeing yourself on camera youre like,Oh my God.
I definitely have had a therapist that Ive seen once or twice a week for the last five years.
But yeah, I do feel pressure.
I think all of us feel pressure.
Like, Youre just doing the best you might with what you know.
My journeys been trying to find what balance means and how to love yourself at the end of it.
That feels like the ethos of the show, too.
I dont want to do transformations on people for the sake of a visual.
I want to do it because it makes sense.
But also I think that criticism speaks to this larger gay-on-gay but its also human-on-human criticism.
I feel like that was howQueer Eyewas the first time.
We were just trying to be seen.
We were being seen, but we couldnt really get too deep because, literally, DOMA.
Now I can do my female-hormone monster voice and wear hoodies whilst talking about douches.
We can talk about shower douches with almost 60-year-old men in rural Georgia.
Like, thats kind of cute.
Did you think any of the guys were cute?Yeah.
Wait, heroes or on the cast?
I actually meant the cast.I think everyone on the cast was super cute.
Did this show change any preconceptions you might have had?I want to say something gorgeous.
I think coming into this, being authentic is something thats really important to me.
He was, like, legitimately depressed.
That experience did boomerang him, and he has continued to get so much cuter.
His hair is still looking so cute.
Did it change how you thought about …You know, its interesting.
That felt like a homecoming.
Im the cultural shock for them.
I mean, it stopped.
And I was like, Oh, yeah.
This feels like junior high school all over again.
While we were doing it, I was like, Are you okay?
and I could definitely tell that its harder to be like, Oh, my gosh!
So what deodorant do you use?
when thats more on the forefront of your mind.
So yeah, there was lots of conversation about that before, during, and after.
Its a really difficult conversation and I have a lot of feelings about it.
I didnt know what was going on, and I literally whipped out my phone and started recording.
And thats when I first in my mind was like, I think were onCandid Camera.
Did you and Karamo talk after the episode shot?
I think that when youre doing an unscripted television show, you obviously bring yourself into that situation.
I was pulled over so many times in this little town as a gay kid in my hometown.
Like, very much targeted because I was the only gay kid in a rural town.
Maybe thats what that is?
Also, that whole experience was extremely uncomfortable.
I think my ability to joke and laugh about things is because Im forced to.
Like, literally, my grandpa died last night.
There are so many things.
I had a job to do that day and part of that job was to entertain.
Im sorry to hear about your grandpa.Thank you so much.
He made it to 92, so that is fierce.
Did he get to watch you on the show?He saw the billboard three days ago.
He squeezed my brothers hand and smiled.
Its like really surreal for both of those things to be happening at the same time.
[Tears up.]
Were vessels that can make room for all sorts of stuff.
We are complex human beings.Yeah, we are!
Were just little babies doing the best we can with what we know, honey.[Laughs.]
This interview has been edited and condensed.
It has also been corrected to show that Lena Dunham is theGay of Thronesnickname for Yara Greyjoy.
