“Will & Grace” star Sean Hayes turns 48 today – here are some excerpts from a new interview

Today is Sean Hayes’ 48th birthday. I don’t know about you but I get so caught up in the depressing daily news cycle that is our world right now that I forget how glorious it is that Hayes and his Will & Grace castmates are back making new episodes of the classic sitcom. And they are as good as they ever were – and much needed.

PrideSource posted a new interview with Hayes earlier today. Here are some excerpts:

Q. People wondered if Jack was too stereotypical for TV in 2018 and expressed some concern over what the straight community might think of us.

A. I think that’s insider homophobia. Because I know people like Jack, because one part of me is like Jack, and so if you’re saying people in the gay community were concerned that I was playing Jack a certain way and people would “worry” that gay people act like that, they do act like that. And there’s people who act like Will. There are people on all spectrums of human behavior in the gay community, just like there are people on all spectrums of human behavior in the straight community, so I nix that and I say “bye” to that – I say, “bye, Felicia!” – because that doesn’t make any sense to me.

Q. Similarly, Cam of “Modern Family” was criticized for being an over-the-top and exaggerated version of what a gay person is, and I’m like, what exactly is a gay person supposed to be in 1998 or 2018?

A. Yeah, exactly. What are they supposed to be? And by the way, they are exaggerated, some of them. And so are straight people. Look at Jim Carrey, look at Robin Williams. There are lots of straight people who are exaggerated as well. I hate that argument – no, I’m glad you brought it up. I’m just saying I love talking about it, because it’s ridiculous.

Q. What has it been like to be a part of a show that has existed during two very different times, culturally and politically, for the LGBTQ community?

First of all, I feel very fortunate and lucky to be part of the chorus of the movement. I may not be a single voice, but I’m enjoying being a part of the chorus. And I think that we’re lucky to have the voice and the representation for people to talk about it again, because I don’t think it should ever stop being talked about because everything is not OK. There are still gay kids being bullied. And look at that (gay) couple (who were assaulted) in Florida in the bathroom during Pride. It just doesn’t end. The hate doesn’t end overnight.

So we have to keep doing things, and again, my contribution may not be as activist, because I just don’t feel comfortable doing that, it’s just not who I am. It’s not in my blood, it’s not in my DNA to stand at a podium and speak in soundbytes about how we need to prevail over the government and the system. I leave that to people who are good at it – I’m not good at it. What I’m good at is being comfortable in my own skin and showing people that I have a husband and we make stupid Facebook videos and try to show people that we’re as normal as any other human, so I try to do my best at that. So I’m happy the show is back because there’s still tons of work to do. The power of comedy is so incredible; that’s why we broke so many boundaries the first time. And hopefully we can continue to do that.