Interview: With ‘Overcompensating,’ Benito Skinner Brings the Benny Drama, and Comedy, to His College Coming Out [VIDEO]
Benito Skinner had just seen Charli XCX at the Barclay’s Center the night before but he was still bright eyed and eager to talk about Overcompensating, his new show premiering on Prime Video this week that pulls from his own life, entering college as a freshman jock from Idaho with a secret. “I think it’s partially my story but then pulling from the tapestry of college,” he says, which details Skinner’s first year at the fictional Yates University, in the closet and navigating putting up false fronts for frat bros and forming a genuine crush on one of them.
Skinner broke in with his 2018 stand up version of Overcompensating at the New York Comedy Festival but broke out when the pandemic shut down the world. He needed an outlet for his chaotic energy and between his Kardashian impressions and original characters (like real estate agent Deliverance Richards) he became an internet sensation as Benny Drama. In 2019 he took the show and began transforming it into a pilot called “Lucky,” which became the foundation for the series as it is today.
We discuss the impact of women in the lives of gay men, our fag hags, a phrase the show isn’t afraid to throw around and neither are we. In the show that’s represented in Carmen (played by Wally Baram) and is an homage to his godmother, whom he wasn’t able to come out to. Skinner digs into having to forgive himself for not coming out sooner and how we treat people in the limelight for being in the closet longer than fans sometimes think they should be.
The series is produced by A24 and Amazon MGM Studios and oh yeah, the aforementioned Charli XCX. In one of the more classic Hollywood stories, Skinner found himself at a party with the superstar and after a few too many margaritas garnered the gumption and moxie to walk up to her and pitch his show for her to score and much to his surprise, the Essex queen responded “Yeah, sure babes.” That soft yes turned into her executive producing the series and a hilarious guest spot as herself, which she shot in the middle of the ‘Sweat’ tour. For the main supporting cast, joining Baram are The White Lotus’ Adam Di Marco, Obsession’s Rish Shah, and Skinner’s best-friend, “fag hag supreme” and podcast co-host, actor and comedian Mary Beth Barone. There’s also veteran TV legends Connie Britton (Nashville, Friday Night Lights) and Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet), playing his fictional parents.
Skinner and his show are now nominated for two Gotham TV awards (Breakthrough Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Performance in a Comedy Series) and will be honored by the Critics Choice Association at their second annual LGBTQ+ Celebration in June. “My brain cannot process any of this,” he says. “I feel very lucky and fortunate.”
All eight episodes of season one of Overcompensating begin streaming May 15 on Prime Video.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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