Jeff Hiller onSomebody Somewheres road to Gloria
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Last Sunday,Somebody Somewhereaired its secondseason finale, followingSuccessionandBarrys final bows.
Its about me, that really stung him.
He was making it all about himself, and it was really about these other people.
He was having a real selfish moment.
The farm stuff was for Fred.
We want to say, We love you.
We love your love, thats important for Joel.
Its about the trans stuff too.
You know, we love your love.
This isnt the most tolerant community.
Is that something hes conscious of?I was conscious of it.
That script came late, it was a three-page monologue, and it was a little too meandering.
Thats why theyre the writers!
What did you change?I put in the wordchange.
They wanted it to be a bit more opaque.
I said, Sometimes change can be good.
I wanted it to be a little for Sam.
Maybe Im tooobvious, but thats what I wanted.
Its the promise of the premise.
He wants her to know that stasis is wrong.
Stasis in being sad is not good for you.
Youre in a codependent relationship that is not healthy for you either.
They had this beautiful honeymoon that they enjoyed, but they both need to grow.
They need to change.
Joel has that vision board for a reason.
He knows that growth and goals are important.
Sam is afraid of that.
The codependency point is really interesting.
Ive been describing the season as an explosion of theWill & Gracearchetype.Im a total Eric McCormack.
Youre straight playing gay?Yeah.
But there is this archetype of the gay guy and the straight, cisgender woman in a codependent friendship.
But then things change.Do you remember theSex and the Citymovie?
Then it becomes a tragedy.
You have to enjoy that part so you can understand why theyve fallen into that rut.
The writers are really smart.
Hannah Bos, Paul Thureen, and Bridget too.
Shes willing to be vulnerable and raw.
She has talked about how she has been in these beautiful platonic romances, and they always change.
That is not something you see on TV.
But even then, its a movie.
You dont have to serialize the aftershocks.Exactly.
And thats why we really need a season three.
Everyone, hey write in, so we can do that.
Can you describe the rut that theyre in?
I dont think thats wrong.Yeah.
Especially with Fred being gone, they became completely enmeshed and unable to let anybody else in.
She makes it into a little acronym of NNP (no new people), but thats not healthy.
You want to have new people, continue growing, and have a community.
Then she has this gut punch from Joel.
Shes completely alone eating eggs Benedict.
It all goes back to growth.
Shes so afraid of it.
Sam and Joel get back together in the finale, but it doesnt feel the same.
Its not the same relationship.
How do you think it has changed?Theres this third wheel named Brad!
You dont have the time.
Then she becomes annoyed and says, Okay, can we just drive?
The finale is bookended by two Christian rites of passage the funeral, then the wedding.
For him, the funeral is in a church, and it feels safe and normal.
Hes not really close with Darlene, but he wants to tailor the wedding to Fred and Susan.
He does still see it as holy.
I dont think hes done with church forever.
Hes embarrassed to be around God, and thats why the wedding was so scary.
He seems very affected by that, and weve seen Joel almost completely removed from music this season.
Its because he had music to get under all those protective barriers.
He plays the piano really well, and he organizes his social life around these musical events.
His love of Sam is so much about appreciation for her gift and wanting to nurture it.
We dont necessarily see it, but he probably plays his piano when hes bummed.
Hes the kind of person who always has a song in his head.
I dont think Ive ever seen a gay relationship developed through a connection to the church on TV before.
What do you think of that choice?I know two lesbian couples who met in a faith community.
It was super-progressive and super-lefty.
There were a lot of queer people who went to churches there.
I definitely went to church looking to meet somebody.
But I dont think Ive ever seen it on TV before.Completely.
Oh my God, gay plus church equals oppression on TV.
This is a world Im very familiar with that Ive never seen on TV.
Its asking audiences to hold two things true about the church in their heads at once.
Which gets very scary.Im not trying to be like, Everyone should go to church.
I dont go to church!
There are a lot of really shitty churches especially toward the queer community, especially right now.
But there are these really beautiful, progressive churches, and its interesting to see that intentional justification.
I am certainly more earnest than Bridget.
I am someone who can really believe.
Thats why I loved church growing up.
I loved that earnestness.
But also, when Sam says a cutting comment, she maybe believes it more than Joel does.
I did not consider this, but what youre saying is so true.
Brad gives him something that he cant get from Sam.
I think making fun of him was practice for opening his heart to someone he wouldnt have even considered.
A lot of people dont remember me.
I was at the Michael Schulman event where you performed Sally Fields Oscar speech.
I loveSteel Magnolias, Places in the Heart,andSoapdish.
Her speech is dumb.
When you watch it, its cheesy.
But then she says, You like me?
Then Im embarrassed, because its true, and thats how I feel too.
If I won an award, it would feel like someone likes me, and Im desperate for that.
Were introduced to Gloria as the song that Joel wants to hear at his own wedding.
Then it ends up sung by Sam as an olive branch to Joel at someone elses wedding.
But thats why he is so in love with Sam too.
Its not about the words.
Its about the emotion and expansiveness.
The real reason the song is Gloria is because the actor Jeff Hiller loves the song Gloria.
I used to play it during season one all the time, so they chose it for that reason.
I mean, it didnt get played at my wedding.
I just really like the song.
But I dont think it matters if it was sung for his wedding.
It matters that Sam sang that song.
Sams a no requests person, he made a request, and she granted it.
Thats why its such an olive branch.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
