海角大神

In 2008, Jeff Hiller got his first taste of fame 鈥� a starring role in a series of Snickers commercials that played during the NFL playoff games. He was the most popular parishioner at his church when he came home for Christmas that year. Former bullies, church ladies, and fellow theater kids crowded him in the fellowship room at coffee hour.

Almost two decades later, he is back in the spotlight after his final season playing the sincere, small-town gay character Joel on 鈥淪omebody Somewhere,鈥� a Peabody Award-winning TV series that ended in December. On a recent trip home he gets spotted all over the Lone Star State: looking for chicken stock at the H-E-B supermarket, picking up his dad鈥檚 favorite pralines at a legendary Mexican joint, and riding around town with his sister.

The last few visits here have taken on a new meaning as he鈥檚 mined his Texas boyhood for material for his upcoming book, 鈥淎ctress of a Certain Age: My Twenty Year Trail to Overnight Success.鈥� His upbringing and background inform his work. Comparisons to his most recent character are inevitable.

鈥淚鈥檓 a lot like Joel, but I think there鈥檚 a fundamental difference in someone who really wants to leave their hometown versus someone who stays,鈥� says the comedian in an interview. 鈥淚 am jovial. I do giggle like that. I did grow up religious. I do like a bawdy joke, but I wanted to perform as my main thing, not as a fun thing to do on a Thursday.鈥�

鈥淎nd I definitely don鈥檛 feel like my way is the better way,鈥� he adds. 鈥淚 sure would like that house.鈥�

In 2023, the Peabody Awards, which recognize 鈥淪tories that matter,鈥� applauded what they called the show鈥檚 pathos and hilarity. 鈥�Somebody Somewhere discovers moments of authentic tenderness in the painful absurdities of the human condition,鈥� the Peabody website says. The series centers on Sam, a woman who has moved back to a Midwestern town after the death of her sister. Joel is her close friend.

Jeff Hiller鈥檚 early life in Texas

The actor chuckles recalling the youth director who unsuccessfully dissuaded his parents from letting him sign up for community theater, citing a 鈥渂ad element there.鈥� He does find it difficult to make sense of a congregation that ostracized him after his coming out 鈥� only to welcome him back when it got to meet TV鈥檚 Joel.

鈥淏ut you can love people and recognize that their values are not the ones that you want to share,鈥� says Mr. Hiller, reflecting on a moment in the show when a gay character makes peace with an ex-wife who bars him from their children.

The author鈥檚 life has also included a tight-knit group of friends, forged performing onstage at Texas Lutheran University. Longtime friend Shanon Keogh says they all recently had a reunion in Austin to catch Mr. Hiller鈥檚 stand-up routine. 鈥淚 laughed so hard that my sides ached,鈥� she says.

鈥淚 recently told him that he was like Monica to our version of 鈥楩riends,鈥欌�� she says via email. 鈥淚t was his genuine good nature, infectious sense of humor, and dedication to his faith and friends that drew me to him.鈥�

Last March, when he helped clear out his parents鈥� old home and move his father into assisted living, he found an old gay magazine he purloined while on a 1989 family trip to New York City.

鈥淚 felt like that was some sort of a gift from my mom, and it made me very sad, but happy,鈥� says Mr. Hiller of the magazine kept by his mother, who died in 2016. 鈥淚t made me love my mom so much because she was this 海角大神 person who really followed that whole 海角大神 thing of, I鈥檓 really going to love my neighbor.鈥�

His early years were spent in San Antonio 鈥� the family moved later to Austin. It was news to him that 海角大神s disapproved of gay people when he was growing up in the Lutheran Church in the late 1980s. The church ladies, many of them friends of his mother鈥檚, would help him identify a Bible verse, but also a cutting remark.

Under the painted ceiling of the local Alamo Caf茅, the congregants would meet for queso, gossip, and analysis of the latest sitcom episodes. He credits these staunch Texas women with sharp wits and a 鈥渂less your heart鈥� at the ready with his style of comedy.

鈥淚 actually have a lot more respect for the place,鈥� Mr. Hiller says of where he grew up. 鈥淭here is darkness, but it isn鈥檛 the top layer.鈥�

鈥淪omebody Somewhere鈥� has been cathartic for Mr. Hiller. In the show鈥檚 third season, his character鈥檚 high school bully apologizes to him after Bible study at his partner鈥檚 church. Mr. Hiller never got an apology from the young men who chased him down the school hallways with slurs. But he did get props for an ad they got acquainted with tuning in to Sunday afternoon football.

鈥淲ith this Snickers commercial, I did have a bully reach out and say he saw them,鈥� shares Mr. Hiller. 鈥淚 looked at his [Facebook] page, and I dunno, he was a dad; it was clear he really loved his kids. He had two little daughters, and then he felt more complex.鈥�

In Mr. Hiller鈥檚 own life, he鈥檚 recently started mentoring a boy as part of a big brother program, and befriended an octogenarian.

Southern stuffing, mini-golf, and Taco Cabana

With Bronski Beat鈥檚 鈥淪malltown Boy鈥� blaring on the car radio and a to-go box of crispy pralines in his lap, Mr. Hiller points to the many sites he remembers from a Texas childhood. They are now lost between new high-rises for tech workers, yet ever more relevant as he introduces himself to TV audiences warming to his Southern charm.

Mr. Hiller still relishes spending time with his sister and her family, preparing his mother鈥檚 Southern stuffing recipe, and revisiting a janky but classic mini-golf course together.

Before he leaves, he鈥檒l wash her sheets, and discuss the highlights of his trip over coffee with her. He鈥檒l also hit up the Taco Cabana drive-thru for a bean-and-cheese burrito on the way to the airport, part of his yearly ritual as he journeys back to the city where his Vitamix is plugged in.

鈥淚t made me feel proud,鈥� says Mr. Hiller of the turned heads and congratulatory messages that arrive from fans over lunch with a reporter. 鈥淧roud because it was not easy. It was not easy just to move to New York from here.鈥�