Neil Patrick Harris sat down with OUT editor in chief Aaron Hicklin to talk about his about his career, his family, and his new role as Hedwig on Broadway.
But it was what he said about how playing a drag queen brought up some deep-rooted insecurities, that caught my eye:
“Hedwig is bringing up a lot of super insecure things within me. I have never thought drag was intoxicating, I’ve never had a fun drunken Halloween in drag, never been in heels, really. I’ve lived my whole life being attracted by masculinity – it’s why I like guys. I’m not a super effete person, and I have to turn into that, and in doing so it brings up a lot of homophobic insecurities within myself.”
Hmmmm. Seems odd that he hasn’t dealt with any of that by age 40, and it seems like something you might not want to actually say out loud (or to a magazine). But I guess I’m glad he’s confronting it now. Dragphobia/sissyphobia/queerphobia among straight-acting gays is detrimental to the entire community.
See also Huffington Post.
And here’s what he had to say about convincing producers to skip the traditional Wednesday matinee:
What I didn’t want is to do a matinee and 20 minutes in, have whole groups of people getting up, turning down their hearing aids, and walking out. That would distress me, because part of Hedwig is Iggy Pop in all of his fucked-up glory. So I’m looking forward to squatting down in front of the first row and having people spit in my mouth. It’s that kind of show. I’m anxious, on night, to fall backwards and be led on my back by people with their hands outstretched. I don’t think that will ever happen, but that’s the vibe I’m looking for – that’s the vibe I have to embrace. I don’t fucking care – you gotta go to a nasty place.
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