“EastSiders” star Kit Williamson tells People mag: “I would love to be the gay male Phoebe Waller-Bridge”

Was so happy to see Emmy-nominated Eastsiders creator and star Kit Williamson interviewed by People.

He’s such a talent and saw his web series about the queer relationships between characters in Los Angeles’ Silver Lake and West Hollywood neighborhoods become an Emmy-nominated show available on Netflix. The show also starred future star Constance Wu, multi-Emmy nominee Van Hansis and Williamson’s husband John Halbach.

Here are a few excerpts from the interview:

How did you know it was time for Eastsiders to end after four seasons?
I feel like good stories have endings, and it really felt like the right place to leave the characters. I may not be done with the characters forever, but I’m definitely done with this format in terms of a large ensemble, six half-hours produced independently. It’s all-consuming; it takes so much of my time and energy. I’m ready to move on to some other depths.

How has your life changed since the show began?
It’s created a lot of opportunities for me professionally, particularly as a writer, and it’s really helped me narrow my focus in on what I really want to do in this industry. I’ve always kind of done a little bit of everything, and while I would love to continue doing a little bit of everything, the ultimate end goal for me is to be a showrunner.
I’m really inspired by Lena Dunham and Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy — showrunners who have a lot of different stories being told at once and people who combine their skillsets, too. I want to do it all. Phoebe Waller-Bridge is especially inspiring to me; I would love to be the gay male Phoebe Waller-Bridge someday, to have a show that I write and star in — like Fleabag —going at the same time as the show, like Killing Eve, that she created. That’s just such an amazing double-edged sword that she’s wielding, that she can do both of those things.

Why is it important to you to represent queer stories?
Growing up in Mississippi, I didn’t know any openly gay people. I was, for a time, certain that I was the only person in the world who was like me. And when you feel that way, it’s very easy to believe the lie that you will never be happy because that’s all you see. That’s all you hear about. Growing up in a conservative Christian community, all I heard was propaganda as a kid that the gay lifestyle was a miserable one that ended in loneliness, heartbreak and disease. That was the only option available to me. Gay people were painted as kind of miserable pariahs without a tribe, without the community.

I have found the f—ing opposite to be true. I was deceived as a little kid, and it nearly killed me. And I think that’s not an uncommon story. But then seeing queer characters on television opened up my world beyond my small conservative Christian community, and it really saved my life. So if I can give back in any small way, if I can do that for other people, if I can reach people in countries where it’s illegal or dangerous the way that the show has been doing, then I’m incredibly grateful for that opportunity. I take it really seriously.